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by 16bitvoid 1080 days ago
What I've done is sign in using some throwaway account on setup, create a new local user once logged in, login to the new local user, and delete the old user with the Microsoft account.

I think you can also simply unlink and sign out of the Microsoft account once logged in to effectively make it a local user, but your user folder is stuck using the username of the Microsoft account, which also gets cutoff after like 8 characters.

I abhor the whole process and it's annoying because there's no other way to create a local account during Windows 11 setup on e.g., a laptop because it knows that the wifi module works and will not let you progress unless you connect to the internet. I tried unplugging my modem and connecting to my internet-less router, but it still refused to progress because it didn't have internet access.

Don't even get me started on the other dark patterns once you actually have a local user setup, like being pushed through part of the OOTB Windows setup again after a major feature update asking you to login into a Microsoft account and making sure you still want all the (user accessible) telemetry off.

The worst part is that I actually like Windows 11 and some of the new features like the tiling layouts when hovering over the maximize button on a window, the new default terminal program, etc. But, the whole thing is entirely soured by dark patterns like the aforementioned forceful use of a Microsoft account, all the extra Edge and Bing crap being shoved down my throat, the poor web-first Windows search, widgets just basically being an MSN feed, Teams starting at login by default on a new install, random apps and games being advertised in the start menu on a new install, etc.

1 comments

You realize most windows users will simply go with the flow?
Of course, but what's your point? That's not meant to be rude. I'm just confused because I talking about myself, not "most windows users".
My point is that there’s a small loophole still open actionable for powerusers right now but that won’t be the case for too long. Probably the best thing is to start migrating to a different platform, or at least start thinking about it.
That's a fair point, but even if they got rid of this loophole, I'm sure there'd still be a registry or group policy loophole. I'd totally switch to Linux if it wasn't for my gaming library, my Nvidia card, and some of the software that I use that is either Windows only or works better on Windows, like the Affinity suite, Blender, UE5, etc. I know the latter two support Linux, but it goes back to the Nvidia card and they simply run better on Windows, at least from my experience. Proton also seems like a pain requiring Steam/Lutris to manage different versions of Proton/Wine, plus a good chunk of my gaming library isn't supported.
So instead of keeping a windows machine exclusively for your old catalog of games you likely rarely play and only buying new games which run under Linux, you're gonna keep upgrading through whatever nightmare path remains available just so your main PC can run those games?

Or is it that you're so concerned with experiencing specific games which will come out only for windows that you're willing to suffer that he'll?

Because really... Your comment makes you seem irrationally attached to windows only games....

I only have the one machine and I'm not buying another just to move to Linux. Maybe when it's time to upgrade, I'll go for an AMD GPU and move to a Linux distro.

Regardless, I mentioned other software besides video games and there's more besides what I listed. I've already gone through the process of making Windows less of a nightmare that it's not a problem for me right now. So no, I don't think it's irrational, regardless of video games, to go through the headache of dealing with Linux distros right now, which I've done plenty of in the past and is its own hell that I'd have to suffer.

For me, that platform is Windows LTSC / Enterprise / IoT, using a resale market product key.
Yeah, in the same way that cattle at the slaughterhouse "go with the flow"?