Microsoft Closer to Removing Local Accounts from Windows 11, Removes Help Page on How to Switch to One

[Eiji]

No thanks M$.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

What about old non-steam games from between 1998-2004-ish?

Can they be installed and run without any hassle?


Yeah, that's my main concern.

I don't want the hassle of having to log in each boot.

For at least some of the older games, winetricks is an option to get them going. That's how I got Warcraft II BNE running. I think you had to mount the ISO of the game to pass the disc check, but that's how it was when it was new. Haven't really tried any other games, but maybe I should.

 

[remixedcat]

Microsoft is really becoming complete idiots. Maybe for home users that are not connected to domains or business enviroments. But in the business world this will not fly by any long shot. I mean how many class action lawsuits do they really want. Microsoft really wants to have a MS account so they can track you, spy on you and steal your info to sell it of to advertisers. I just love how MS talks security then has no security at all. Privacy seems to be something they know nothing about. Also you know who invented Ransomware guess who Microsoft!!!. I found something interesting the other day. FAT32 cannot be infected with ransomware. Because 9x did not have Bitlocker engines. Also another interesting FACT, NTFS never needed USN journal before 9/11. After 9/11 it came out first with MSN messager, then was intergrated in all OS releases afterwards. It's basicly a complete journal of your hard drive information sent to who, Who Knows. CIA, FBI. I run a batch file that deletes the USN journal every boot up of my computer.

I work in IT, I have worked as a systems administrator, Domain Administrator, Firewall Administrator, Network Admin, Now I conform to business practices in the business world and do most things by the book. But on my personal machines I know better. I trust no company period!. Adobe, MS, Apple, even some linux. Everyone is out there trying to steal or take your info and use it. Your best antivirus is your human head. I have not run antivirus for years. I have hardware based firewalls upon firewalls. I do not give my phone # or email address to any company or store that asks for it. The social engineering and phinshing is insane these days.

PS. A side note to add on this. When the Internet came out to the public in the 90's there was in place a Privacy act and Internet Protection laws. Federal laws in the USA to protect consumers from companies stealing info and selling it to others. This was put in law by the Clinton adminstration. Now when Bush got in office that law was torn down. His government said he hurts businesses. Ya hurt them protected us. So he decides we are not to be protected and let businesses do what ever they want.

The State of Consumer Data Privacy Laws in the US (And Why It Matters)

Digital privacy laws help control how your data is stored, shared, and used by big businesses—but those protections vary wildly depending on where you live.

www.nytimes.com

Pretty sad the state of affairs now for Protections.

watch them segregate the pro and consumer versions even more and lock out consumers from even using the pro versions... knowing ms that's what they'll do

 

[lexluthermiester]

watch them segregate the pro and consumer versions even more and lock out consumers from even using the pro versions... knowing ms that's what they'll do

That would be a whole new level of low(read scummy). So yeah, maybe.

 

[remixedcat]

That would be a whole new level of low. So yeah, maybe.

I'm good at predicting corporate behaviours.

 

[GoldenX]

If only it was that easy for everyone.....................

It is

 

[trparky]

If Microsoft pulls any more bullshit, my next system will probably be a Mac. I'm getting away from gaming so the lack of the ability to game won't really be a problem.

 

[remixedcat]

If Microsoft pulls any more bullshit, my next system will probably be a Mac. I'm getting away from gaming so the lack of the ability to game won't really be a problem.

or just go with linux! and keep your hardware!

 

[trparky]

or just go with linux! and keep your hardware!

Without support for commercial software, it's a bit of a challenge to go to Linux. I have an iPhone and keep things in my iCloud Photo Library. Then there's how I keep important data in OneDrive so I'd have to have support for that. The Mac at least presents a solution where I'd have the best of both worlds; UNIX under the hood with the support for commercial software.

 

[Vayra86]

It is

90 day evaluation and then you need an activation. Are those easy to come by, then? Can we get a topic going on this perhaps?

 

[stimpy88]

It seems eventually private computing will be phased out of existence.

The short-term dystopian future will be hacking the OS to give you a local account (we are here). The long-term dystopian future, which is not that far away, will be using old versions of Windows or alternative OS's so if your Internet is slow or goes down, or you care about privacy, you can still work and game.

or just go with linux! and keep your hardware!

Linux is awful for home use. You need a PHD in computer science to fix it or make it do pretty much anything, let alone there being no good software for it. You can't beat Office, Photoshop, Premier the list goes on and on. And we won't mention the terrible drivers etc...

 

[JWNoctis]

The short-term dystopian future will be hacking the OS to give you a local account (we are here). The long-term dystopian future, which is not that far away, will be using old versions of Windows or alternative OS's so if your Internet is slow or goes down, or you care about privacy, you can still work and game.


Linux is awful for home use. You need a PHD in computer science to fix it or make it do pretty much anything, let alone there being no good software for it. You can't beat Office, Photoshop, Premier the list goes on and on. And we won't mention the terrible drivers etc...

Support for Linux may well improve, application software and drivers coming with them. It's already not as bad as it was even a few years ago. If there's a demand, there'd probably be a supply.

As long as Microsoft does not attempt to actually lock third-party OS out of PC ecosystem outside things like WSL. Considering the brouhaha during the adoption of UEFI over the mere possibility of that, maybe they won't actually dare to do it, for a while longer.

Linux may still for a while be the one-eyed king of the land of the blind, for those who care, of course.

 

[DaemonForce]

Linux is awful for home use. You need a PHD in computer science to fix it or make it do pretty much anything, let alone there being no good software for it.

I get it, everybody's a creator these days and that means automatic brain damage when using anything computer related.
It's been a few years since Ubuntu 7 but it was targeted in a hit piece about incompatibility with office software even though Open Office was kind of the norm on that side.
FF today and there's weird pieces about Ubuntu spying and telemetry, this and that. Doesn't matter if real, people will read something into anything.
Meanwhile, anything Microsoft Store side keeps committing sudoku and eviscerating every shitty Microsoft UWP that I've ever installed after stagnating on "updating" non-updating apps like Calculator and OneNote.
Not even kidding, Microsoft Store is an issue and that means I lose access to the most basic apps that never should have been put there.

Also, the world is currently giving a big middle finger to Adobe because of ToU issues on top of some AI scare. People are openly looking for and talking about alternatives.
I haven't had driver issues on linux but it's just not my environment. Gaming is probably okay now but most days I'm just browsing the web and watching streams.
I'm 1000% certain there's a linux for the casual crowd. Maybe light duty like Alpine.

Remember, all it takes is one squirrely little stitch in linux to get people to adopt it en masse. Valve did an excellent job pushing the usage numbers up through their Steam Deck. Imagine what could happen in the near future if streamers decide to adopt it. It's way closer than it sounds.

 

[stimpy88]

I get it, everybody's a creator these days and that means automatic brain damage when using anything computer related.
It's been a few years since Ubuntu 7 but it was targeted in a hit piece about incompatibility with office software even though Open Office was kind of the norm on that side.
FF today and there's weird pieces about Ubuntu spying and telemetry, this and that. Doesn't matter if real, people will read something into anything.
Meanwhile, anything Microsoft Store side keeps committing sudoku and eviscerating every shitty Microsoft UWP that I've ever installed after stagnating on "updating" non-updating apps like Calculator and OneNote.
Not even kidding, Microsoft Store is an issue and that means I lose access to the most basic apps that never should have been put there.

Also, the world is currently giving a big middle finger to Adobe because of ToU issues on top of some AI scare. People are openly looking for and talking about alternatives.
I haven't had driver issues on linux but it's just not my environment. Gaming is probably okay now but most days I'm just browsing the web and watching streams.
I'm 1000% certain there's a linux for the casual crowd. Maybe light duty like Alpine.

Remember, all it takes is one squirrely little stitch in linux to get people to adopt it en masse. Valve did an excellent job pushing the usage numbers up through their Steam Deck. Imagine what could happen in the near future if streamers decide to adopt it. It's way closer than it sounds.

Calm down. It's an awful OS for anyone who does not have a PHD in computer science. That's basically it. End of.

I think it's great it exists, but it's not for me, and it's not for 95% of home computer users either. Its market share proves me right.

 

[JWNoctis]

Calm down. It's an awful OS for anyone who does not have a PHD in computer science. That's basically it. End of.

I think it's great it exists, but it's not for me, it's not for 95% of home computer users either. Its market share proves me right.

It's all about the Shell. You've probably used Linux in any number of "smart" appliances you may have without knowledge, and I wonder if you really mean to group, say, SteamOS among that awful pile - I have no experience with that one, but the hearsay impression is certainly not quite that, for its purposes.

Microsoft is doing what they are doing, presumably because they have the same feelings, that their capture is tight enough.

 

[DaemonForce]

Linux is okay in a VM, which I guess also fits CompSci PHD territory but seeing how virtualization software has been mainstream for the past ~20 years I'm guessing the recent Broadcom/Vmware acquisition was the death knell that normies got to that too.

Market share or not, experimental attitudes continue to exist. They may not thrive, but they're out there. Somewhere. Just look at forums like this one. :/

The issue with Microsoft is egregious overreach despite public reaction. Win11 should never have been allowed to get to this point. What an atrocity. I still won't touch it.

What's that? Win11G exists without Copilot, telemetry and all the crapware due to geopolitics?
Nope. I've seen that scam before. Not today Satan.

 

[Yraggul666]

If...IF... (after win10 eol and after i pay for security updates for a few years) i decide not to switch to Linux and buy a win12,13,666PRO bootable usb stick, remove my internet connection and install offline, they're going to what???
Not allow me to install offline the product i paid for??? How in the unholy fuck would installing offline even work without an offline acc??? FUCK THEM! FUCK THIS!

They don't want my money fair and square? Ook!!! I know a guy who knows a guy! I'll Jack Sparrow them into oblivion!

These "geniuses" will stop at nothing.
I hope the EU destroys them for this POS move.

 

[gQx]

If we are the generation- AI Textbook- to teach AI it's the perfect time for WW3

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Without support for commercial software, it's a bit of a challenge to go to Linux. I have an iPhone and keep things in my iCloud Photo Library. Then there's how I keep important data in OneDrive so I'd have to have support for that. The Mac at least presents a solution where I'd have the best of both worlds; UNIX under the hood with the support for commercial software.

Yeah, that's where I am, provided Apple keeps allowing local accounts. It sure seems like it will, but I don't know that we ever expected MS to be the first to mandate an MSA, especially considering the steaming pile that is their software store. I can't believe how bad it still is. Consider that MS includes 1 month free for Game Pass with the SDX Surface Laptop 7, despite the fact that the Xbox app will tell you that SDX is unsupported. That's their attention to detail these days.

I get it, everybody's a creator these days and that means automatic brain damage when using anything computer related.
It's been a few years since Ubuntu 7 but it was targeted in a hit piece about incompatibility with office software even though Open Office was kind of the norm on that side.
FF today and there's weird pieces about Ubuntu spying and telemetry, this and that. Doesn't matter if real, people will read something into anything.
Meanwhile, anything Microsoft Store side keeps committing sudoku and eviscerating every shitty Microsoft UWP that I've ever installed after stagnating on "updating" non-updating apps like Calculator and OneNote.
Not even kidding, Microsoft Store is an issue and that means I lose access to the most basic apps that never should have been put there.

Also, the world is currently giving a big middle finger to Adobe because of ToU issues on top of some AI scare. People are openly looking for and talking about alternatives.
I haven't had driver issues on linux but it's just not my environment. Gaming is probably okay now but most days I'm just browsing the web and watching streams.
I'm 1000% certain there's a linux for the casual crowd. Maybe light duty like Alpine.

Remember, all it takes is one squirrely little stitch in linux to get people to adopt it en masse. Valve did an excellent job pushing the usage numbers up through their Steam Deck. Imagine what could happen in the near future if streamers decide to adopt it. It's way closer than it sounds.

It's hard to say. Linux is getting easier, but it still has challenges occasionally. At any rate, I gave up on Lightroom when Adobe went subscription-only. Fortunately, some good alternatives are out there, like CaptureOne, On1, Affinity Photo. Darktable isn't even too bad for opensource, but it's way more complicated.

 

[colossusrageblack]

How's gaming going on that platform? Is it good?

Try it for yourself. I did, it's pretty terrible, unless you really enjoy tinkering and not spending time gaming.

 

[trparky]

or you care about privacy

What gets me about people who say this is that they're the same people who carry smartphones in their pockets, specifically Androids.

I don't even care about the privacy situation anymore; I've long realized that there's no true privacy in this hyper-connected world that we live in, only degrees of privacy.

 

[Vayra86]

What gets me about people who say this is that they're the same people who carry smartphones in their pockets, specifically Androids.

I don't even care about the privacy situation anymore; I've long realized that there's no true privacy in this hyper-connected world that we live in, only degrees of privacy.

There were always degrees of privacy. You just said you truly do care about privacy, because you still identify degrees of it

And I'm going to assume here that you do choose some degree of it, you protect information you don't want out there. We all do. Everyone has something to hide.

So really, the privacy situation is what it always was: you're guarding the information you don't want out in the open. Like your sex life, your finances, and various other personal things. Just because social media exist and phones exist, doesn't mean privacy is gone. We each choose how to use those services and devices. Some people throw everything online. Those same people then get targeted by certain actors. And those same people then get a reality check.

Just because the masses contain stupid people, doesn't mean its a norm. Consider also the general state of human hypocrisy. What we say we think, is generally not what we really think What you see online and what people post there for all to see, is there because they want it there. They're selling themselves or gather attention. So how much privacy is really lost if all you read online should be viewed as a lie? We love living a fake reality after all. Its escapism.

 

[trparky]

There were always degrees of privacy. You just said you truly do care about privacy, because you still identify degrees of it

What I mean by that is that I know quite a number of people who hang out on a different site that are absolute nutjobs when it comes to privacy. They're the kind of people who claim they don't own a smart phone, use a VPN for everything, don't have a bank account or credit card, pay everything with cash, hide their faces while in stores, don't use store loyalty cards even if they'd save money, etc. The only thing that they haven't done is find a cave out in the woods to live in like a hermit. True nutjobs if I ever saw them.

 

[Vayra86]

What I mean by that is that I know quite a number of people who hang out on a different site that are absolute nutjobs when it comes to privacy. They're the kind of people who claim they don't own a smart phone, use a VPN for everything, don't have a bank account or credit card, pay everything with cash, etc. The only thing that they haven't done is find a cave out in the woods to live in like a hermit. True nutjobs if I ever saw them.

The internet, the beautiful equalizer. There were always idiots, I don't think that's new either, its just that they became a lot more visible online. Its a bit like watching reality TV isn't it.

You can do a LOT in terms of privacy without going that extreme. Even just cutting out social media makes you safe for the overwhelming majority of nonsense you can get right now. It really comes down to: internet is for content consumption and not generation. Stick to that rule and things get easy.

 

[trparky]

Again, when I say I don't care about privacy and that I understand that there's only degrees of privacy, I'm referring to those nutjobs that I described above.