This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
I am horrified by what computers have become, from expensive magical tools to solve real problems, to ubiquitous shit-shoveling malware appliances controlled by some of the worst elements of society.
Those kinds of computers still exist, it's called Linux.
I've never been more appreciative than I am now of the decades of effort that have gone into building this free and open-source operating system.
Imagine if we were here in 2025, with all the incumbent operating systems going to shit, but in a world where Linux didn't exist and there was no alternative that wasn't owned by a tech giant.
I don't even want to imagine.
Don't forget to donate to your favorite distro (and other open source projects) to help them keep the lights on.
Gotta do our part to fight the massive mega corps from devouring every aspect of our lives.
to ubiquitous shit-shoveling malware appliances controlled by some of the worst elements of society.
Hmmm, I wonder which background economical system we all live in that could explain why every single technology ends up controlled by the top 1% to make our lives more miserable and their profits higher...
Here's your bypass:
In OOBE, go through MS account creation. Tell it you were born today. It'll let you set a password for the MS account before rejecting you due to COPA requirements. At this point, you can make an offline account without having even created an MS account, let alone having to use one.
This will not go away - it's a legal thing. MS doesn't want to deal with COPA stuff for very young kids, so this flow exists. Enjoy.
Rufus can be used to disable account creation along with other settings.
rufus doesn't help with preloads that you don't want to or can't, for whatever reason, overwrite with a 'clean' install.
If os can't be installed off a usb then that means linux can't either, which makes it a pretty sad machine to spend money on.
So it must be a work or school device then? Which users wouldn't be installing OS on anyways with it being handled through IT.
This is the rule for any account or mobile game, too - if it asks your age before asking for consent to farm, put any age below 13. It'll either not farm you because it's illegal or it'll kick you out. If the latter, good riddance really
Lol it's been great getting off of Windows over the last few months.
I thought I would miss it, but Proton in Steam has been amazing on Ubuntu, with some exceptions (Stupid EA crap from skate. 2025).
Dual booting for now is OK, but gaming is pretty garbage anyway, so I will probably abandon Windows entirely soon. Definitely my last version of it. Feel so liberated having hobbies off computer anyway, and now using my computers with Ubuntu is actually enjoyable again instead of driving an expensive spy machine.
:)
From the other time this was posted:
95 is the stick, and ME is the stick up someone’s butt.
This "subscription" mentality is ruining value for a lot of society but, holy shit, do you ever rake in those huge amounts of monthly cash, for very little work.
“While these mechanisms were often used to bypass Microsoft account setup, they also inadvertently skip critical setup screens, potentially causing users to exit OOBE with a device that is not fully configured for use.”
Lol sure. If that was the real reason they'd simply let you create a local account. The audacious lying is just insulting.
potentially causing users to exit OOBE with a device that is not fully configured for use
Oh no, onedrive not working or the office nagging screen missing in the start menu, how will we cope.
Linux, your time has finally come
All Microsoft had to do for Windows to remain the most popular home and office OS in the world for decades to come, was to just not fucking suck.
The problem is that they realized that they could do both.
"It would bypass critical steps..."
Which step is that, data collection? Shoving OneDrive down my throat by putting my Desktop in it with no way to easily remove it?
collecting data, and training AI of course.
I am never abandoning you, Linux
I will be switching to Linux once my laptop is obsolete!!! I will only be getting Linux stuff from there on in!!! :-)
Why wait? Linux Mint will run the shit out of your laptop right now.
Not OP, but I have to keep one Windows PC around. My favorite mod for my favorite 20 year old 4x game will not run on Linux, even though the game itself will.
The rest of my PCs are running either Mint or Xubuntu.
I can add that in my experience, switching to Linux tends to have a positive impact on performance and keep the laptop usable for longer, I highly recommend you try it with your current laptop.
I've got machines that are obsolete for even Windows 10 that run Linux just fine. The best time to start is now.
You're going to immediately wonder why you waited so long.
Don't plug to many, otherwise people might start jumping ship!
just making it easier to act like they don't even exist. I'll never, EVER get an account for MY computer.
I despise that I have to use this OS at work. I would never run windows on my own computer again. Its just insanity. Next they'll require a credit card to make a Microsoft account.
I could see them requiring government-issued ID. The age verification laws coming into effect in various states and countries make this a logical step for Microsoft. They might even start their own age verification service where you give them your ID and they vouch for your age with the sites you visit in Edge. Of course it would have the totally accidental side effect that everything you do on your computer could be monitored and legally tied to your identity.
Switched to Linux full time at the start of 2025 and haven't looked back. I fully intend to go the rest of my life without using windows again.
I've been using Linux exclusively for more than ten years. You've made the right choice. As if you needed anyone to tell you 😆
If I was still a solo sysadmin, today I would be reevaluating the feasibility of dumping Windows altogether.
Dump windows. These megacorps need to fail.
Edit: I have only been using Linux for less than a year now, and right now, really is the perfect time to switch. I only held onto windows for gaming, and now I use bazzite. There are some games that don't have steam backup, but with the games that do, I can play the same save between my steamdeck and bazzite.
There is so much more you can do with linux and all it's distros. I've messed around with linux in the past, but never was patient enough to deal with it. Now it's really that easy.
Tbh I'm hoping the AI crash permanently kills most of the larger tech corps.
One option is to install an older version and update after.
A better one is not use it because it's trash.
