Microsoft has made it clear that Windows 11 installation requires both a Microsoft account and active internet connectivity, and the company is systematically eliminating the simpler workarounds that previously allowed users to skip this requirement. While alternative methods remain available, they now demand significantly more technical expertise, specifically requiring users to modify the Windows installation image beforehand by configuring an unattended setup that includes a local account, a process that proves challenging for average users.
tech news are just shit lately, smh
After 30 years it is finally the year of the Linux desktop
I volunteer at a non-profit computer repair shop and the old folks that come in for free laptops have been returning windows and Mac laptops for ones we toss Zorin on lol.
They say it’s easier to use and faster
I mean, if you don’t need specific pieces of proprietary software and you don’t play certain video games on your computer, in a lot of ways, Linux is definitely going to suck way less than Windows, especially with modern day user friendly distros.
If it runs a browser, it works. Installing software is a bit of a learning curve, but the software store button makes sense. Plus it’s way harder to accidentally install a virus from an exe when you can’t run it.
Yep! I mean, there are tools for running Windows programs, but you have to be very intentional about it. It’s very difficult for the type of person who’s that careless in the first place to get a random Windows executable and carelessly run it. And most people really do only need a web browser and maybe basic office software.
We always install libre office and Firefox. No one even notices that it isn’t word because it just works. Half of them just want something that can do Zoom calls with their church and not constantly be asking them to update.
It’s also so much easier for techs to fix a borked Linux install. So far we haven’t even had any of the Linux machines come back except for hardware issues. The Windows machines are constantly having issues and getting malware though.
We track the Linux installs too and it’s fun to watch the graph over time be taken over by Linux.
Yep, that all tracks. I’m just happy to see perfectly good computers not end up as e-waste, but there’s something I really like about very non-technical people getting to actually try modern day Linux vs modern Windows, and saying the Linux system is the one that’s easier to use. Reminds me a bit of the story I saw of the guy who needed a replacement for his grandma’s ancient beige shitbox that had been running Windows 3.1 and finally bit the dust, apparently the woman knew what she was doing with a DOS prompt and could sort of navigate Windows 3.11, but just absolutely could not use modern GUIs. Strangest case of “old people having a Time with technology” I’ve ever heard. In that a thing you’d expect to be too difficult for an older and not exactly technical person, ends up being the easiest thing for them to use of the options available.
I heard Linux has AMD drivers that let you render ray tracing on non-RT GPUs (at a performance cost of course) which is cool. Getting better all the time.
I feel like windows has that too. I remember messing around with raytracing and getting like half an fps on an Intel igpu on both OSes
Right when windows 10 goes EOL too.
With proprietary software, all technical decisions become the most profitable one and the program becomes a tool of extraction of its users.
Anyway here’s to the death of the “you need a terminal and burn a ISO to a USB” meme on linux since now Windows users have to do it to not have their computer become a refrigerator of digital slop.
surely pirating windows becomes easier at that point if you actually need windows for something.
Linking https://massgrave.dev/ when necessary is praxis
airgap these balls, mate - satya nadella rn
Finally, people will ditch Macro$hit for a truly good operating system: TempleOS
Finally an operating system that can speak in tongues.
Networking is for the devil because you let the devil in and it installs bloat.
What a classic! Truly the one good OS to ever be produced.
If you don’t use Red Star you’re a liberal
I mean. It is kinda cool. And commie states having Official State Linux Distros is cool in general. (And I still wish the Soviet Union had lasted into the computer age, so we could have seen their take on the concept.) But yeah, Real Commies use Linux! Preferably an AES state’s Official State Distro! (Which is a thing that a lot of countries and smaller government bodies have, it’s a fascinating piece of the tech world.)
If you really need to use Windows for any reason, burn the windows ISO to a USB stick using Rufus, which has toggles for disabling the account requirement and also has the TPM bypass option if you’re on an older computer that win11 doesn’t support.
If the computer is really old and non-upgradeable though like a laptop, Linux is way better just because of how lightweight it can be.
i would love to see windows go the way of the blackberry
“We do not need it. We will not use it.”
I agree. Windows sucks. I don’t even care what wins, I just need Windows to lose.
Honestly, if you have used tech like in desktops long enough, you should already have Linux experience and hate Windows, like if you even have the slightest idea to modify your desktop, good luck with that on Windows, as instability occurs because Microsoft really wants you to use their shittier UI/UX.
Never underestimate Windows users ability to put up with garbage to justify not learning anything new.
They do edit registery files and do all sorts of painful workarounds but linux is too much apparently (for the sort of windows user I mentioned at least)
Look, I use Linux but I am not good at it. I do not like having to use the terminal, and I probably never will like it. But good God, editing text config files or using a terminal command to change a setting are both so much less painful than the bloody Windows Registry. I don’t necessarily like Linux. But I really hate Windows. So.
The things I have watched my mother put up with from her computer… yeah, checks out.
I don’t even like Linux that much, I just hate Windows a lot more.
SteamOs revival 2026???
is this Windows 11 home only? Cause i doubt they got rid of domain joining on Windows pro, which lets you get around an online account.
likely, yeah
good, for work and personal reasons.
Damn, that’s crazy. I usually install a fresh Windows in a VM whenever I need it, then delete it after, so this may mildly affect someday in the future.
I’m too much of a
to switch
