[kinjba11]

> Do you use a smartphone? >> What does that have to do with anything?

I would bet 99% of iOS and Android users sign in with their Apple or Google account. Signing into an account for an OS is par for the course in 2021.

[MiddleEndian]

Smartphones being shitty isn't really a good excuse to make PC operating systems similarly shitty.

[sixothree]

I think the real question here is - do you buy the cheapest phone or do you get a decent one that fits your needs.

Because Microsoft _is_ releasing a version of this operating system that fits your needs. You just don't want to pay for it.

[MiddleEndian]

I bought an Android phone (Palm Phone) for under $100 that rarely bothers me at all, definitely the least annoying Android device I've ever had. Still not really an Android fan, but it has the least shovelware of any Android device I've had.

Meanwhile, I have a Surface Book 2, an expensive laptop from Microsoft running Windows 10 Pro. I actively removed all the ads in when I got it, yet still it periodically fucks with my OS and creates new ads, such as a new not-so-helpful keyboard shortcut with Win10 1903 that advertised Office at me that had to be disabled with a Registry Edit.

So even though MS does some cool shit, I do not trust them. I paid the money, I got the pro version, and they still come up with bizarre new ways to advertise at me.

[rurp]

I sign into my phone with an account, but not my primary personal one. I use a secondary one I use for this and some other throwaway uses. I'm sure this isn't the norm, but I bet it's not that unusual, at least among tech people.