alt Hacker NewsThanks for that. I didn't even think about the whole Microsoft Account requirement in the context of unattended installs.
I like Windows quite a bit. I get unreasonably angry when the ability to see the source code would be useful, or when I can't minimize irritations by recompiling. I feel that way about all closed-source software, though. By and large I'm happy to use it for some things. I've used it a long time. I don't dislike it.
What's happening w/ Windows, though, fills me with frustration and sadness. The Microsoft Account requirement is absolutely asinine. The Windows 10 and later UI changes are ridiculous. The continued push to take away user rights on computers they own, by sinking DRM tendrils deeper into the OS, is frustrating.
It feels like developers w/ little to no real world experience using Windows and who have no ability to stand up to the whims of UI "designers" (who also don't seem to acutally use Windows), sales and marketing, and the copyright cartels have been put in charge of Windows.
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It’s not an asinine requirement when you think of how users would otherwise have to store Bitlocker recovery keys. Microsoft would have to give up device encryption for the masses if there was no automatic off-device key storage.
For those that truly care to use a local account, there’s a SKU for that.
These are commercial decisions, taken way above product people in most cases. Exploitative and user-hostile management occasionally drops their mask of serene and paternalistic benevolence, revealing the ugly truth of cut-throat corporate life.