Technology

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.

“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.

"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?

Don't plug to many, otherwise people might start jumping ship!

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.

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.

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.

If I was still a solo sysadmin, today I would be reevaluating the feasibility of dumping Windows altogether.

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.

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.

:)

I am never abandoning you, Linux

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.

One option is to install an older version and update after.

A better one is not use it because it's trash.

Linux, your time has finally come

The hole they will never plug: Not using Windows.

I installed windows 11 a dozen time at work (never at home) and I just click on "domain login", it just creates a local account and then after the install I have to manually join the domain. No Microsoft account enforcement at all.

It's regular Windows 11, not Enterprise, we are a small company.

But I'm wondering, this bypass is too easy, is it because it sees that the DNS server is also an active directory server, so it allows that, or the trick is that you tell him you want to join a domain?

Or maybe it's a domain enrollment bug because we're using samba 4 under Debian as active directory server and not Windows server/entra id/whatever they call it this month?

The Enterprise/IoT SKUs, which of course include LTSC, still let you use a local account, for now...

I won't be surprised if they plug that at some point way down the line too though given they're already playing with Windows on the Cloud in the enterprise sector.

Where's the regulation that prevents this? Appalling.