New and simpler hack lets you bypass Microsoft account requirement when installing Windows

[disinfect8280]

Why is no one talking about just entering an invalid email three times? Then it will allow you to use local account. It worked as of about a year ago. Useful if it's already pre-installed and you just need to setup.

Better yet, just use Linux. Average user is mostly working in web browser anyway. That or Office applications. I can't believe people are so lazy that they would rather hand over $99/yr to Microsoft for 365 than take a few minutes to learn the minor differences in LibreOffice or similar alternatives!

Well I know why, until Linux is pre-installed on PCs it won't change. Average user doesn't know how to install a different OS.

 

[yRaz]

I support Lennox and an Enterprise environment for our application of web development team because it's one of the few niche locations Linux is better and it's an absolute pain in the *** certifiedt. I am fully Linux certified and a good supporting it now for 10 years it doesn't make it good

So what I believe is irrelevant from what might actually be true. I say that because I don't believe anything you said. that, or your Linux experience is so limited that it is non-applicable

 

[lonetac]

Apple doesn't let you do what want with your computer what are you smoking, apple's entire ecosystem is you do what we tell you, when we tell you and if you try anything else we will make your life hell. Mac's belong very very far away from an enterprise environment, truthfully macs all belong in landfills

Came to say the same thing.

TBF, he says in his company though. Most companies cant do **** on a mac outside of some developing or marketing.

Mac folks though will profess they do everything MS does and does it better, its a bit like dealing with another cult type personality that exists these days...

 

[BabaYaga]

I never understood this fighting about which OS is better. Use whatever suits your needs. However, just because you like it, it doesn't make it better than another OS.

Microsoft also forces you to do things their way. Currently there is no way to get rid of the Pinned apps Startup menu and go straight into All apps. I pin all my fav apps to the taskbar and it looks just like a MacOS taskbar now.

I have a Win11 desktop that I installed via Rufus and did not have to create an account or use any tricks mentioned here. Why bother with commands, just use Rufus.

I also have 2 laptops. One 15" Dell Precision 13700H with 32GB of RAM for work and 16" Macbook Pro M4 with 48GB of RAM. Both do what they need to do but there is a stark difference between them.

Material
Macbook - aluminum
Dell - plastic

Screen
Macbook - Quantum dots LED 3456 x 2234 120Hz. One inch notch. Area to the left and right is not wasted like on Dell and is used by menus and system info. Dark menu bar makes is much less visible.
Dell - 1920 x 1080 60Hz. Half an inch bezel at the top of the entire screen just because of a webcam in the middle.

Speakers
Macbook - Amazing speakers in the front
Dell - There are two holes in the bottom towards the front. I'm not an audio expert but having sound bounce off whatever surface the laptop is sitting on, can't be good. Macbook is made with performance in mind, Dell just checks the boxes.

OS
Macbook - Insanely easy updates. All grouped into one update. Numbers follow logically. 15.1 -> 15.2. System settings are laid out in a way that makes sense.
Dell - Windows presents you with a bunch of updates that you have no idea what they mean. "Cumulative Update Preview", "Cumulative Update for Win 11", "Cumulative Update for .NET", Driver Updates - which ones do I need?, Other updates - same question.

Connecting to other devices
Macbook - This might be unfair since other devices are in the Apple ecosystem but Apple makes it so intuitive, your parents should be able to use it. And that's how it should be. One click to mirror or extend display to my TV connected to AppleTV. Airpods connect the same way.
Dell - I have no idea how to connect to my TV. Bluetooth we all know what we need to do.

Fans
Macbook - It was fan slots on each side on the bottom pointed down at a 45deg angle. No fan openings. It's like a Tesla in this regard. They are hidden. I have never heard a fan or felt air or heat coming out. Some thought went to the design.
Dell - I only use Office but it's acting like I'm predicting weather patterns. Fans spin up at times to 100%. I can feel the air and heat. There is an intake grill on the bottom which could easily be blocked and exhaust grill on the left side which you could easily put your hand one as it's the logical place to grab the laptop when you're moving it or holding it. The air goes straight out parallel to the ground.

Misc
One thing it took an adjustment is the file hierarchy. Apple doesn't show it by default but you could totally do it if you wanted it to. It wants you to use Apps to launch files. As a windows user, I'm used to clicking on the file to open the app. I'm coming around to doing it the other way. Instead of digging around in folders, I open Excel and click on my pinned files and open from the app. It's much faster for me and avoids cluttering my desktop with shortcuts or digging through folders.

There might be better Windows based laptops but those manufacturers have no control over the OS itself so it will always be what Microsoft wants it to be. On the other hand Microsoft has no control over the bulky plastic laptops with cheap screen their OS goes into. Absolutely no effort goes into the design.

TLDR: Don't hate on Apple OS until you give it an honest shot.

 

[OrangeT]

Does MS not see SteamOS and Apple as a threat?

No steamOS and Apple are definitely not a threat lmao.... Only thing close is Maybe Ubuntu or Linux Mint... but still doesn't have the Gui support like windows does... Apple is overpriced garbage, that's just a Linux shell anyways...

 

[yRaz]

No steamOS and Apple are definitely not a threat lmao.... Only thing close is Maybe Ubuntu or Linux Mint... but still doesn't have the Gui support like windows does... Apple is overpriced garbage, that's just a Linux shell anyways...

MacOS is more unix than it is Linux and decades of development have made it fairly unique even in that respect.

 

[candle86]

I never understood this fighting about which OS is better. Use whatever suits your needs. However, just because you like it, it doesn't make it better than another OS.

Microsoft also forces you to do things their way. Currently there is no way to get rid of the Pinned apps Startup menu and go straight into All apps. I pin all my fav apps to the taskbar and it looks just like a MacOS taskbar now.

I have a Win11 desktop that I installed via Rufus and did not have to create an account or use any tricks mentioned here. Why bother with commands, just use Rufus.

I also have 2 laptops. One 15" Dell Precision 13700H with 32GB of RAM for work and 16" Macbook Pro M4 with 48GB of RAM. Both do what they need to do but there is a stark difference between them.

Material
Macbook - aluminum
Dell - plastic

Screen
Macbook - Quantum dots LED 3456 x 2234 120Hz. One inch notch. Area to the left and right is not wasted like on Dell and is used by menus and system info. Dark menu bar makes is much less visible.
Dell - 1920 x 1080 60Hz. Half an inch bezel at the top of the entire screen just because of a webcam in the middle.

Speakers
Macbook - Amazing speakers in the front
Dell - There are two holes in the bottom towards the front. I'm not an audio expert but having sound bounce off whatever surface the laptop is sitting on, can't be good. Macbook is made with performance in mind, Dell just checks the boxes.

OS
Macbook - Insanely easy updates. All grouped into one update. Numbers follow logically. 15.1 -> 15.2. System settings are laid out in a way that makes sense.
Dell - Windows presents you with a bunch of updates that you have no idea what they mean. "Cumulative Update Preview", "Cumulative Update for Win 11", "Cumulative Update for .NET", Driver Updates - which ones do I need?, Other updates - same question.

Connecting to other devices
Macbook - This might be unfair since other devices are in the Apple ecosystem but Apple makes it so intuitive, your parents should be able to use it. And that's how it should be. One click to mirror or extend display to my TV connected to AppleTV. Airpods connect the same way.
Dell - I have no idea how to connect to my TV. Bluetooth we all know what we need to do.

Fans
Macbook - It was fan slots on each side on the bottom pointed down at a 45deg angle. No fan openings. It's like a Tesla in this regard. They are hidden. I have never heard a fan or felt air or heat coming out. Some thought went to the design.
Dell - I only use Office but it's acting like I'm predicting weather patterns. Fans spin up at times to 100%. I can feel the air and heat. There is an intake grill on the bottom which could easily be blocked and exhaust grill on the left side which you could easily put your hand one as it's the logical place to grab the laptop when you're moving it or holding it. The air goes straight out parallel to the ground.

Misc
One thing it took an adjustment is the file hierarchy. Apple doesn't show it by default but you could totally do it if you wanted it to. It wants you to use Apps to launch files. As a windows user, I'm used to clicking on the file to open the app. I'm coming around to doing it the other way. Instead of digging around in folders, I open Excel and click on my pinned files and open from the app. It's much faster for me and avoids cluttering my desktop with shortcuts or digging through folders.

There might be better Windows based laptops but those manufacturers have no control over the OS itself so it will always be what Microsoft wants it to be. On the other hand Microsoft has no control over the bulky plastic laptops with cheap screen their OS goes into. Absolutely no effort goes into the design.

TLDR: Don't hate on Apple OS until you give it an honest shot.

I have given Mac a good shot before I even have to support it for work I still find it over priced, restrictive and overall a very poor operating system.

 

[eldakka]

Microsoft also forces you to do things their way. Currently there is no way to get rid of the Pinned apps Startup menu and go straight into All apps. I pin all my fav apps to the taskbar and it looks just like a MacOS taskbar now.

This right there is a problem that makes the rest of your post irrelevant.

There is a way to do this, you use something like Windows Classic Shell to replace the default Windows 11 GUI. The GUI you get with windows is just the default one that MS ships with WIndows, you can always use a different GUI.

 

[jfranklin]

Can't you just install Windows without an internet connection, leaving local account creation as the only option?

 

[lonetac]

I never understood this fighting about which OS is better. Use whatever suits your needs. However, just because you like it, it doesn't make it better than another OS.

Microsoft also forces you to do things their way. Currently there is no way to get rid of the Pinned apps Startup menu and go straight into All apps. I pin all my fav apps to the taskbar and it looks just like a MacOS taskbar now.

I have a Win11 desktop that I installed via Rufus and did not have to create an account or use any tricks mentioned here. Why bother with commands, just use Rufus.

I also have 2 laptops. One 15" Dell Precision 13700H with 32GB of RAM for work and 16" Macbook Pro M4 with 48GB of RAM. Both do what they need to do but there is a stark difference between them.

Material
Macbook - aluminum
Dell - plastic

Screen
Macbook - Quantum dots LED 3456 x 2234 120Hz. One inch notch. Area to the left and right is not wasted like on Dell and is used by menus and system info. Dark menu bar makes is much less visible.
Dell - 1920 x 1080 60Hz. Half an inch bezel at the top of the entire screen just because of a webcam in the middle.

Speakers
Macbook - Amazing speakers in the front
Dell - There are two holes in the bottom towards the front. I'm not an audio expert but having sound bounce off whatever surface the laptop is sitting on, can't be good. Macbook is made with performance in mind, Dell just checks the boxes.

OS
Macbook - Insanely easy updates. All grouped into one update. Numbers follow logically. 15.1 -> 15.2. System settings are laid out in a way that makes sense.
Dell - Windows presents you with a bunch of updates that you have no idea what they mean. "Cumulative Update Preview", "Cumulative Update for Win 11", "Cumulative Update for .NET", Driver Updates - which ones do I need?, Other updates - same question.

Connecting to other devices
Macbook - This might be unfair since other devices are in the Apple ecosystem but Apple makes it so intuitive, your parents should be able to use it. And that's how it should be. One click to mirror or extend display to my TV connected to AppleTV. Airpods connect the same way.
Dell - I have no idea how to connect to my TV. Bluetooth we all know what we need to do.

Fans
Macbook - It was fan slots on each side on the bottom pointed down at a 45deg angle. No fan openings. It's like a Tesla in this regard. They are hidden. I have never heard a fan or felt air or heat coming out. Some thought went to the design.
Dell - I only use Office but it's acting like I'm predicting weather patterns. Fans spin up at times to 100%. I can feel the air and heat. There is an intake grill on the bottom which could easily be blocked and exhaust grill on the left side which you could easily put your hand one as it's the logical place to grab the laptop when you're moving it or holding it. The air goes straight out parallel to the ground.

Misc
One thing it took an adjustment is the file hierarchy. Apple doesn't show it by default but you could totally do it if you wanted it to. It wants you to use Apps to launch files. As a windows user, I'm used to clicking on the file to open the app. I'm coming around to doing it the other way. Instead of digging around in folders, I open Excel and click on my pinned files and open from the app. It's much faster for me and avoids cluttering my desktop with shortcuts or digging through folders.

There might be better Windows based laptops but those manufacturers have no control over the OS itself so it will always be what Microsoft wants it to be. On the other hand Microsoft has no control over the bulky plastic laptops with cheap screen their OS goes into. Absolutely no effort goes into the design.

TLDR: Don't hate on Apple OS until you give it an honest shot.

I support 25k windows devices and 7k macs globally in a enterprise environment.

I use and support both. Mac's simply cant run enterprise's at this scale. Its not about knocking something because I dont like (even though I dont, you cant pay me to use a mac day to day). O365 is absolutely insufficient for any power user on a mac.

It simply isnt sufficient as Apple offers no AD schema. Integrating things like JAMF and Centrify to bind mac's to the domain has many restrictions. Just trying to manage entitlement life cycle using AD groups or other strategies to help with automation on Mac's is a challenge in the industry. After all, Identity is where we are at in protecting credentials now days. Regulations are tight and often have little room for wiggling.

With windows, you dont have to think about it.

You mention windows locks things down but you dont hold that to Apple who locks their stuff down even more than windows. You have to do exactly as Apple tells you, you can hardly customize anything. This has been a staple complaint from iOS and OSx users for YEARS. In fact, its one of the driving factors making Android so popular, customization. You lost me with that one and it seems you might be not looking at this as objectively as you think you are. A lot of the other complaints seem to be more about Dell than Microsoft.

Ive customized my windows 11 to behave and look nearly identical to win 10. Took me about 20 minutes.

I agree that folks should use what they are comfortable with. I dont sit here and profess one is the absolute best of everything over the other, that would be incompatible with looking at something objectively. It was a counter argument to those folks who say Mac's should replace windows everywhere.

And yes, we had one of those guys come into our company. He failed miserably at convincing 30k people they all had to use mac's to be more efficient.

I also remember a sales guy who was like "I need a mac in order to sell stuff because if I have a Dell the customers dont take me serious". I laughed, no bro, that means you are a **** salesman.

There are some special "mac heads" out there that worship the company like a cult. They can do no wrong and every thing that comes out is the most incredible thing even though it was available on Android 3 years ago.

 

[lonetac]

Why is no one talking about just entering an invalid email three times? Then it will allow you to use local account. It worked as of about a year ago. Useful if it's already pre-installed and you just need to setup.

Better yet, just use Linux. Average user is mostly working in web browser anyway. That or Office applications. I can't believe people are so lazy that they would rather hand over $99/yr to Microsoft for 365 than take a few minutes to learn the minor differences in LibreOffice or similar alternatives!

Well I know why, until Linux is pre-installed on PCs it won't change. Average user doesn't know how to install a different OS.

Reality is, this isnt a viable option in the corporate world.

 

[Au Contraire]

Why not copy the BypassNRO script from the current version of Windows?
LOCATION: C:\Windows\System32\oobe and also C:\Windows\WinSxS\

It should still work; after all, it's just this:
@Echo off
reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE /v BypassNRO /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
shutdown /r /t 0

Then again, examining my Windows machine, which I installed using a Local Account, I see this:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE]
"SkipMachineOOBE"=dword:00000001

You can also use the 'Shift-F10 > control netconnections' method to tell MS you do not have an internet connection, which reverts to a local install.
During install wait until "Create / Add MS Account" or "Login using MS Account" comes up then Shift - F-10 to open Command Prompt
type command: control netconnections
Network connections window will open, right-click on the Network Adapter(s) and disable it.
Close that window, then close the command prompt.
Click the back arrow until you return to the screen that asks for the user login name.
Input whichever login you desire (NOT a microsoft email, nor gmail, nor . . . just a name) and continue from there.
On first boot into Windows, re-enable network from the system tray/notification area.