Microsoft will use the Windows 10 Settings app to nag users into creating an online account

[midian182]

A hot potato: Most Windows 10 users are tired of Microsoft bugging them to move to Windows 11, but that's not the only nag Redmond is pushing onto people. Microsoft also prefers Windows users to have a Microsoft account and, as such, is testing a prompt in the Settings app that will suggest moving away from local accounts in favor of its cloud-based service.

News that Microsoft will once again be nagging Windows 10 users comes from release notes for the Windows 10 19045.4353 preview build (via Windows Central).

A section of the notes titled 'Features and Improvements' reveals that the update includes a rollout of account-related notifications for Microsoft accounts in Windows 10's Settings app.

The included text explains that a Microsoft account offers several benefits, such as connecting Windows to your Microsoft apps, backing up all your data, and helping manage your subscriptions. It also helps keep users from being locked out of their account, writes Microsoft.

While what Microsoft says is true and there are other perks to having one of the company's accounts, including finding a lost or stolen PC and multi-device syncing, many people would rather not give Microsoft (even more) access to their personal data, preferring to stick with local accounts. A local account also offers more security.

The good news is that these notifications can be easily disabled. Just go to Settings > Privacy & security > General and then deselect everything.

Microsoft removed the option to create a local account from the Windows 10 Home installation wizard in 2022, but there are other ways of creating one.

For all that Microsoft is pushing Windows 10 users to upgrade to Windows 11, the former remains the most popular version of the OS by far. Statcounter notes that Windows 10's global user share went up in March while its successor's declined, a trend mirrored in the most recent Steam survey.

It's not been the best month for Windows. First we heard that Microsoft could soon sneak more ads into the Start menu. Then there was the former Microsoft dev who called the Start menu's performance "comically bad." Microsoft also blamed a bug for automatically installing the Copilot app on some Windows 11 PCs without notifying users.

Masthead: HS You

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Microsoft will use the Windows 10 Settings app to nag users into creating an online account

 

[MarkHughes]

I feel like I read a "How to disable annoying thing in Windows" article every few days now...

How about they make a good product people actually want instead of having to force people to "upgrade"

 

[yRaz]

I know there are lots of Linux nay-sayers, but you can only annoy people so much before it becomes worth their time to learn a new OS. Also, it's really not anymore difficult than from switching from iOS to android at this point.

MS must really not want to be an OS company anymore. I guess they want to be an AI, Gaming and data company.

 

[Nelson28]

A hot potato: Most Windows 10 users are tired of Microsoft bugging them to move to Windows 11, but that's not the only nag Redmond is pushing onto people. Microsoft also prefers Windows users to have a Microsoft account and, as such, is testing a prompt in the Settings app that will suggest moving away from local accounts in favor of its cloud-based service.

News that Microsoft will once again be nagging Windows 10 users comes from release notes for the Windows 10 19045.4353 preview build (via Windows Central).

A section of the notes titled 'Features and Improvements' reveals that the update includes a rollout of account-related notifications for Microsoft accounts in Windows 10's Settings app.

The included text explains that a Microsoft account offers several benefits, such as connecting Windows to your Microsoft apps, backing up all your data, and helping manage your subscriptions. It also helps keep users from being locked out of their account, writes Microsoft.

While what Microsoft says is true and there are other perks to having one of the company's accounts, including finding a lost or stolen PC and multi-device syncing, many people would rather not give Microsoft (even more) access to their personal data, preferring to stick with local accounts. A local account also offers more security.

The good news is that these notifications can be easily disabled. Just go to Settings > Privacy & security > General and then deselect everything.

Microsoft removed the option to create a local account from the Windows 10 Home installation wizard in 2022, but there are other ways of creating one.

For all that Microsoft is pushing Windows 10 users to upgrade to Windows 11, the former remains the most popular version of the OS by far. Statcounter notes that Windows 10's global user share went up in March while its successor's declined, a trend mirrored in the most recent Steam survey.

It's not been the best month for Windows. First we heard that Microsoft could soon sneak more ads into the Start menu. Then there was the former Microsoft dev who called the Start menu's performance "comically bad." Microsoft also blamed a bug for automatically installing the Copilot app on some Windows 11 PCs without notifying users.

Masthead: HS You

Permalink to story:

Microsoft will use the Windows 10 Settings app to nag users into creating an online account

Absolutely agree, this feels like an unnecessary nudge towards Microsoft accounts. While the benefits they mention are valid, it's frustrating to be pestered to switch when many users prefer the control and privacy of local accounts.

Disabling the notifications is good to know, but it shouldn't be an extra step we have to take.

The timing is also questionable. After all the drama surrounding the hidden Windows 11 upgrade prompts, this just adds insult to injury. It doesn't exactly inspire confidence in Microsoft's respect for user choice.

And don't even get me started on the rumors about sneaking more ads into the Start Menu...

Maybe Microsoft should focus on ironing out these issues (like the laughably bad Start Menu performance, as that ex-dev put it) before pushing account changes.

Here's hoping they listen to the feedback and give us a clear option to stick with local accounts without the notifications.

Looking at the Statcounter graph you attached, it is interesting to see that Windows 10 user share is still going strong. Maybe that's because people are wary of the changes in Windows 11, or maybe they just don't feel pressured to upgrade yet. Whatever the reason, it seems like there are still plenty of Windows 10 users out there who would prefer to avoid a Microsoft account. Hopefully Microsoft will listen to our preferences!

 

[dangh]

Go here*: https://www.opensuse.org/ to disable it for good.
*) other distros will work well, too.

 

[winjer]

Windows is becoming so bad, that changing to MacOS or Linux is looking like the best option.

 

[Puiu]

Windows is becoming so bad, that changing to MacOS or Linux is looking like the best option.

Unfortunately the MacOS account is just as annoying is you want to do many things.

 

[winjer]

Unfortunately the MacOS account is just as annoying is you want to do many things.

Admittedly, I have never used MacOS. Only Windows and Linux.
So I had no idea of how a MacOS account works.

 

[Puiu]

Admittedly, I have never used MacOS. Only Windows and Linux.
So I had no idea of how a MacOS account works.

Many things can only be found in the apple store so you absolutely need it. The same with the apple application updates.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Windows is becoming so bad, that changing to MacOS or Linux is looking like the best option.

MacOS would be a good alternative if Apple weren't so pig headed and supported Vulkan and openGL properly over that metal API. As it is, we will never see Steam Proton on Mac, and Parallels doesn't hold a candle to it. A shame, I will give credit where credit is due, a M3 max macbook pro is a fascinating nugget.

Absolutely agree, this feels like an unnecessary nudge towards Microsoft accounts. While the benefits they mention are valid, it's frustrating to be pestered to switch when many users prefer the control and privacy of local accounts.

Disabling the notifications is good to know, but it shouldn't be an extra step we have to take.

The timing is also questionable. After all the drama surrounding the hidden Windows 11 upgrade prompts, this just adds insult to injury. It doesn't exactly inspire confidence in Microsoft's respect for user choice.

And don't even get me started on the rumors about sneaking more ads into the Start Menu...

Maybe Microsoft should focus on ironing out these issues (like the laughably bad Start Menu performance, as that ex-dev put it) before pushing account changes.

Here's hoping they listen to the feedback and give us a clear option to stick with local accounts without the notifications.

Looking at the Statcounter graph you attached, it is interesting to see that Windows 10 user share is still going strong. Maybe that's because people are wary of the changes in Windows 11, or maybe they just don't feel pressured to upgrade yet. Whatever the reason, it seems like there are still plenty of Windows 10 users out there who would prefer to avoid a Microsoft account. Hopefully Microsoft will listen to our preferences!

IMO the windows 10 share is due to the hundreds of millions of PCs that will Run* windows 11, but MS stubbornly refuses to do so. There's a LOT of sandy/ivy/haswell/skylake stock out there. Millions more that have coffee lake or higher, but dont have TPM functionality. Hell I still know of businesses and users who have core 2 era hardware that does everything they need and they cant justify a $1000+ new business laptop just because MS feels the need to do so. Anyone running a valid system with 10 has already gotten the stealth 11 update installed.

I know there are lots of Linux nay-sayers, but you can only annoy people so much before it becomes worth their time to learn a new OS. Also, it's really not anymore difficult than from switching from iOS to android at this point.

MS must really not want to be an OS company anymore. I guess they want to be an AI, Gaming and data company.

Linux isnt even hard to use. Anyone who installs windows can install linux, and google will answer 99% of your questions in 10 seconds or less.

If I can get 80 year old grandmas to use it, you can too!

 

[Puiu]

MacOS would be a good alternative if Apple weren't so pig headed and supported Vulkan and openGL properly over that metal API. As it is, we will never see Steam Proton on Mac, and Parallels doesn't hold a candle to it. A shame, I will give credit where credit is due, a M3 max macbook pro is a fascinating nugget.

IMO the windows 10 share is due to the hundreds of millions of PCs that will Run* windows 11, but MS stubbornly refuses to do so. There's a LOT of sandy/ivy/haswell/skylake stock out there. Millions more that have coffee lake or higher, but dont have TPM functionality. Hell I still know of businesses and users who have core 2 era hardware that does everything they need and they cant justify a $1000+ new business laptop just because MS feels the need to do so. Anyone running a valid system with 10 has already gotten the stealth 11 update installed.

Linux isnt even hard to use. Anyone who installs windows can install linux, and google will answer 99% of your questions in 10 seconds or less.

If I can get 80 year old grandmas to use it, you can too!

I agree with most of what you said, with the exception of the linux part. Linux is definitely harder to use and it's not just getting used to the UI.

Knowing how install windows/linux is not something a "grandma" can generally do. We sometimes forget that we are tech-savvy and it's easy for us. The vast majority don't even know how to search for something and understanding the results is way beyond them. The average joe searches google on google.

 

[DZillaXx]

I know there are lots of Linux nay-sayers, but you can only annoy people so much before it becomes worth their time to learn a new OS. Also, it's really not anymore difficult than from switching from iOS to android at this point.

MS must really not want to be an OS company anymore. I guess they want to be an AI, Gaming and data company.

There is so much software that simply doesn't run on Linux or just isn't production worthy trying to run it in some wine environment. There is a crap ton of Commercial and Industrial applications that are simply built on windows, and unless you work in those field you probably will never run across those applications. But Dell, HP, and Lenovo make a crap ton of money servicing these business sectors.

Hell you'd be surprised how many windows ce devices are keeping your lights on and the water flowing. Windows IOT has only slowly been replacing those age old windows ce devices.

Until Rockwell, Adobe, MS 365, etc makes Linux a more valid choice. We are for the most part stuck to the world of windows....

Also the switch to windows isn't like ios to android. Android Shares the Linux kernel everything else is different. Its not GNU.

Linux is still very much a broken mess when it comes to anything GUI.... Linux is a server OS, largely designed to be used over ssh. The GUI side has been a hot mess for years, wayland is still not 100%, there really hasn't been big $$ invested into a wide use Desktop Linux. Even Steam OS is largely a app that runs on Linux.

 

[magisys]

One of the most absurd thing is that you can't start up a new just bought windows device without having an internet connection, because you will be unable to end the setup with no internet because MS want you to create a useless windows account even if you doesn't need one. you have to input a cmd command to bypass the internet requirements.

 

[Che Cazzo]

I am not here to defend MS; actually I don't care for it at all. But:

Good lord, people!, Stop yer whining and create the stupid account!! It's not like you never have to create an account for every crap you purchase on the internet....every 2 bit website won't sell you anything without an account!!

As to Linux for everyone? Please spare me that pathetic server OS for everyone BS!!

Just create a stupid account for MS and use it for nothing else, then forget about it (well, except for the password, duh)! You're allegedly techies, after all.

Get over it, Sheesh!

 

[yRaz]

There is so much software that simply doesn't run on Linux or just isn't production worthy trying to run it in some wine environment. There is a crap ton of Commercial and Industrial applications that are simply built on windows, and unless you work in those field you probably will never run across those applications. But Dell, HP, and Lenovo make a crap ton of money servicing these business sectors.

Hell you'd be surprised how many windows ce devices are keeping your lights on and the water flowing. Windows IOT has only slowly been replacing those age old windows ce devices.

Until Rockwell, Adobe, MS 365, etc makes Linux a more valid choice. We are for the most part stuck to the world of windows....

Also the switch to windows isn't like ios to android. Android Shares the Linux kernel everything else is different. Its not GNU.

Linux is still very much a broken mess when it comes to anything GUI.... Linux is a server OS, largely designed to be used over ssh. The GUI side has been a hot mess for years, wayland is still not 100%, there really hasn't been big $$ invested into a wide use Desktop Linux. Even Steam OS is largely a app that runs on Linux.

The incompatibility isn't because it can't run, it's because companies won't let their DRM work in a Linux environment. It has nothing to do with windows being.

And from how you talk about it I can tell you haven't used it very much. The GUI is bad? Which one? There are hundreds with cinnamon being the most popular these days. I don't care about Adobe ever since they went subscription, I don't care about office since they went cloud. Basically everything that refuses to play nice with Linux is a subscription model or micotramsaction garbage. Even when I have to run windows, if something doesn't want to play nice with Linux it is an immediate redflag.

 

[DZillaXx]

The incompatibility isn't because it can't run, it's because companies won't let their DRM work in a Linux environment. It has nothing to do with windows being.

And from how you talk about it I can tell you haven't used it very much. The GUI is bad? Which one? There are hundreds with cinnamon being the most popular these days. I don't care about Adobe ever since they went subscription, I don't care about office since they went cloud. Basically everything that refuses to play nice with Linux is a subscription model or micotramsaction garbage. Even when I have to run windows, if something doesn't want to play nice with Linux it is an immediate redflag.

Nearly every company I work with uses MS 365, Desktop Office apps (not cloud apps) but the 365 platform for user management, 2 factor, and file storage. Most businesses use Sharepoint, so having Onedrive would be extremely important in the business world. No one wants to use the Online versions of 365 Apps, we want our Desktop based Outlook and Excel....

I'm a controls engineer, I deal with so many devices that only have windows drivers or Windows based apps that simply just done work on wine. But I run most of these out of a VM anyways and a VM on Linux works just fine... I'm not a fan of Adobe alts, I don't pay for the software my work does. If I want to build an Icon or custom graphic for my Scada/HMI environment I'm not using GIMP....

I use linux all the time, mostly via ssh using putty. Largely for running Node Red OPC UA, handy for moving data.

The Desk experience of Linux sucks. On windows If I need to use a specific driver, it is extremely easy to install it. The Same can not be said for Linux. There is no Device Manager, the Task Manager sucks, the Handling of Network shares suck. It is not business ready. So no Entra ID or Domain Controller. No big deal for home users, but home user base isn't going to sell the switch to linux....


At some point MS will have to decide to keep going with Windows NT or save Development $$ and switch to the Linux Kernel. Apple saves a lot of $$ and time with community based code. The Current choices for linux suck IMO, some people are fine with it. I personally am not. Even on my steam deck the Desktop side is garbage... Also my comment about GUI being as hot mess, as you have 10+ different choices each having pros and cons but none being perfect. Then you have wayland vs x11 and the driver issues between the two, though this is more of an issue on the Arm side of things.

 

[yRaz]

Nearly every company I work with uses MS 365, Desktop Office apps (not cloud apps) but the 365 platform for user management, 2 factor, and file storage. Most businesses use Sharepoint, so having Onedrive would be extremely important in the business world. No one wants to use the Online versions of 365 Apps, we want our Desktop based Outlook and Excel....

I'm a controls engineer, I deal with so many devices that only have windows drivers or Windows based apps that simply just done work on wine. But I run most of these out of a VM anyways and a VM on Linux works just fine... I'm not a fan of Adobe alts, I don't pay for the software my work does. If I want to build an Icon or custom graphic for my Scada/HMI environment I'm not using GIMP....

I use linux all the time, mostly via ssh using putty. Largely for running Node Red OPC UA, handy for moving data.

The Desk experience of Linux sucks. On windows If I need to use a specific driver, it is extremely easy to install it. The Same can not be said for Linux. There is no Device Manager, the Task Manager sucks, the Handling of Network shares suck. It is not business ready. So no Entra ID or Domain Controller. No big deal for home users, but home user base isn't going to sell the switch to linux....


At some point MS will have to decide to keep going with Windows NT or save Development $$ and switch to the Linux Kernel. Apple saves a lot of $$ and time with community based code. The Current choices for linux suck IMO, some people are fine with it. I personally am not. Even on my steam deck the Desktop side is garbage... Also my comment about GUI being as hot mess, as you have 10+ different choices each having pros and cons but none being perfect. Then you have wayland vs x11 and the driver issues between the two, though this is more of an issue on the Arm side of things.

MS spends billions to keep windows the dominant operating system in business and other companies, like Adobe, are just along for the ride.

I find it funny that you talk about how horrible the GUI in Linux is because there are several distros that specialize in giving you a near windows experience, this is the idea behind the Cinnamon GUI. However, MS keeps changing where stuff is in windows so I'd rather have a bad GUI I can learn once rather than having to learn where a setting I use frequently is every 3 months. I actually really like the cinnamon GUI and have been using it happily since 2019. It also doesn't try to hide things from me by obscuring the names of settings menus.

If you wanted to say something like SteamOS, PopOS or Ubuntu had bad GUIs, you'll get no argument from me. The thing is, I can copy and paste a line of code into the terminal and have whatever GUI I want on nearly whatever distro I want.

You keep bringing up what you use at work. I, too, use computers at work. The thing is, I'm paid to use Windows at work(and ChromeOS). I'm paid for the inconvenience and annoyance it causes me. I don't want this crap on my personal computer and I've found windows so incredibly annoying in recent years that whatever inconvenience I have learning a Linux equivalent pays dividends in the future.

If anything, I'm more annoyed than most people when I have to use windows because I haven't been conditioned to deal with it like many people have

 

[VaRmeNsI]

Just use Enterprise version then you can turn it all off inc. telemetry.

 

[MakeMSGreatAgain]

Windows went to crap as soon as Win8 came with forced tablet interface for everyone, even their Win Server 2012!!! It was awful, but the half-*** conceded and gave us a start menu back - though to this day I still find it clumsy and dimwitted, and prefer the old 9x style start menu.

I stopped using Windows as my main OS years ago, I use Linux and MacOS now. Linux is good but awfully fiddly, so if you want to customize things or install some things you have to be able to handle using the terminal. There are a few pieces of software that just don't really work well or at all in Linux systems, so that is where I use Mac. I don't love Apple or anything but they at least haven't been dicking with their core OS design elements like M$FT has been. They have by in large left it the same... and also don't really harass customers with signing up for all their stuff. You don't want to use iCloud, fine... don't want to use Safari, fine. M$FT on the other had will make it difficult for you, harass you, and even sometimes reset defaults back to their crap on updates. It is infuriating. Plus you can uninstall a lot more stuff that comes on Mac than you can that comes on Windows.

So yeah, at home I only have Windows for some games. The rest of the time I'm in Linux or using a Mac. I also refuse to use OneDrive or any other M$FT services. I buy single install licenses of Office if I need it, and will not pay for their subscription. M$FT is all about subscription and having you pay endlessly, all the while continuing to force it down your throat the One Microsoft Way. That is their physical address by the way, One Microsoft Way. Coincidence?

No thanks M$FT, there are other ways.

PS want to "Make Microsoft Great Again"? STOP FORCING EVERYTHING! Give the power users and administrators back control, let us change stuff and customize things. Let us uninstall things we don't want. You can have all the defaults you want, but stop taking away advanced options for those of us who want it! People might actually like M$FT software again if they just stop with this force crap. Make your product desirable, not a sledgehammer of corporate abuse.

 

[MakeMSGreatAgain]

Nearly every company I work with uses MS 365, Desktop Office apps (not cloud apps) but the 365 platform for user management, 2 factor, and file storage. Most businesses use Sharepoint, so having Onedrive would be extremely important in the business world. No one wants to use the Online versions of 365 Apps, we want our Desktop based Outlook and Excel....

I'm a controls engineer, I deal with so many devices that only have windows drivers or Windows based apps that simply just done work on wine. But I run most of these out of a VM anyways and a VM on Linux works just fine... I'm not a fan of Adobe alts, I don't pay for the software my work does. If I want to build an Icon or custom graphic for my Scada/HMI environment I'm not using GIMP....

I use linux all the time, mostly via ssh using putty. Largely for running Node Red OPC UA, handy for moving data.

The Desk experience of Linux sucks. On windows If I need to use a specific driver, it is extremely easy to install it. The Same can not be said for Linux. There is no Device Manager, the Task Manager sucks, the Handling of Network shares suck. It is not business ready. So no Entra ID or Domain Controller. No big deal for home users, but home user base isn't going to sell the switch to linux....


At some point MS will have to decide to keep going with Windows NT or save Development $$ and switch to the Linux Kernel. Apple saves a lot of $$ and time with community based code. The Current choices for linux suck IMO, some people are fine with it. I personally am not. Even on my steam deck the Desktop side is garbage... Also my comment about GUI being as hot mess, as you have 10+ different choices each having pros and cons but none being perfect. Then you have wayland vs x11 and the driver issues between the two, though this is more of an issue on the Arm side of things.

You know they have MS Office for Mac right? It's nearly the same experience...

 

[Puiu]

You know they have MS Office for Mac right? It's nearly the same experience...

I wish they would fix the bugs in the mac version. It feels like it's in perpetual beta.

 

[user478318]

Windows 10 was a nightmare OS was happy the day I switched to 11

 

[Tony N]

Microsoft is nothing more than an invasion of privacy.

 

[MakeMSGreatAgain]

Windows 10 was a nightmare OS was happy the day I switched to 11

Haha! That is funny!