Microsoft accidentally lists the benefits of not using a Microsoft account on Windows 11
Microsoft accidentally lists the benefits of not using a Microsoft account on Windows 11
Using a local account on Windows 11 has its benefits, as explained by Microsoft on accident.
- Microsoft inadvertently highlighted the benefits of using a local account over a Microsoft account on Windows 11 in a recent support page update.
- Using a local account allows for offline sign-in, is independent of cloud services, and limits settings, files, and applications to a single device, enhancing privacy.
- Despite these benefits, Microsoft requires internet access or workarounds for the initial setup of Windows 11, making it challenging to use a local account from the start.
Since they mentioned the workarounds but didn't explain them, I'm copying my comment from another post a couple of weeks ago.
Lemmy probably isn’t the target audience for this, here’s the steps to bypass the MS account requirement when setting up W11:
Configure your keyboard, but before you select your wifi network press Shift+(Fn)+F10 to open Command Prompt.
Type in the following command and press enter. Your computer will reboot: oobe\bypassnro
After the reboot, configure your keyboard and location settings, and click the option at the bottom of the page to say that you don’t want to connect to the internet
Click the link on the next page to “Continue with limited setup”, then follow the prompts to enter a username and password.
Here are the main reasons listed by Microsoft:
- A local account is created on the device and doesn't require Internet connectivity to sign in. It's independent of other services, and it's not connected to the cloud. Your settings, files, and applications are limited to that single device
- A Microsoft account, on the other hand, is associated to an email address and password that you use with Outlook.com, Hotmail, Office, OneDrive, Skype, Xbox, and Windows. When you sign in to your PC with a Microsoft account, you’re connected to a Microsoft cloud service, and your settings and files can sync across various devices. You can also use it to access other Microsoft services
It’s apparently not introducing the “benefits”.
I frankly wouldn't care at all had MS not truncate your home folder to 5 characters when using a Ms account and also didn't make using remote desktop impossible when enabling a passwordless account.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Using a Microsoft account lets you connect your PC to Microsoft cloud services, sync files across devices, and even sync your settings across multiple PCs.
But I believe there are users who would view Microsoft's reasons against using a local account as positives, not negatives.
I use a Microsoft account and sync just about everything across multiple PCs, but I understand that's not the preferred setup for everyone.
The support document does not list a way to set up your PC with a local account.
I wonder how many people cannot use a modern PC because they lack an internet connection for the initial setup process.
Microsoft is certainly aware that many people lack easy access to the web.
The original article contains 497 words, the summary contains 119 words. Saved 76%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
