This might be relevant to those who wish / have to use Windows 11:
This week, Microsoft made it very clear that it wants to block the popular BYPASSNRO workaround, used to skip the internet and Microsoft Account requirement checks during the Windows 11 installation OOBE (initial setup), although thankfully, the script can still be created using Registry edits.
A 7 step guide.
I don’t really get it why people jump through these major hoops just to get Windows working the way they want it to. Just ditch the problem.
Sure that’s ok for your personal machine. Now convince leadership that your 500 machine fleet needs to be switched over to Linux.
Well, if a company has 500 machines and all of them having microsoft online accounts raises no security questions, I ain’t working there, simple as that
I have software I need that doesn’t run on Linux, and doesn’t have a Linux equivalent.
It takes me 10 seconds to remove internet access from yet another windows process, it takes weeks if not months to re-download the 2 point something TB of games I have installed.
People who have a real internet connection need another excuse but my internet isnt good for 2005, let alone 2025.
fun fact Rufus already has all of this automated and even has steps to have the local account of your choice already as part of the image
People say Stockholm syndrome is fake, but when I see Windows users, I know it’s real. They have been suffering for years and never thought once about alternatives like Ubuntu.
“Oh Linux is too complicated, I can’t do that.” Yeah, you can’t click on Firefox to open Firefox, or LibreOffice to write a document. That’s too hard.
I can relate. It is like those tool bars that were installed automatically if you weren’t attentive while installing software when Windows XP still was around.
They like to suffer, I let them.
Me too. I always suggest to them to install UBlock origin (or any ad blocker compatible to their browser), along with add ons that get rid of cookie consent banners. If they follow my advice, I will invest my time into helping them to make their OS a little bit less annoying (e.g. switching off telemetry data and uninstalling Copilot). If they can’t be bothered with at least installing an ad blocker, I will not waste my time on them. They clearly want to suffer.
They have been suffering for years and never thought once about alternatives like Ubuntu
The average user is pretty unaffected by windows’ enshitification. And if it doesn’t fuck over their daily life, most people are more than happy to keep using the thing they’re familiar with. Especially when switching would require not only learning one new thing, but a large number of new things. For example, do you use paint.net? Sucks to suck, time to find a Linux alternative and learn how to use it and hope it can do everything you need it for.
Linux fanatics like to pretend its as simple as installing a different OS and that’s it, everything else in your workflow will work immediately with no research needed. But that’s simply not true.
… everything else in your workflow will work immediately with no research needed.
I’ll put it simply for you: You can spend a few hours figuring out a new workflow, or you can spend the rest of your life fighting a losing battle against a megacorporation that has it out for you that will also randomly upend on your workflow.
Im not saying sticking with windows is the better option. Im just saying people should stop acting like it’s a one and done switch with no extra effort needed.
Nothing in life takes no effort. I’m only advocating on the basis that Windows has become more of an effort to stick with than Linux has become to learn.
The average user is pretty unaffected
The average user complains about Windows all the time around me and I have to fix their crap constantly. It is fucking over their daily life, either by preventing them from working or by swallowing their files into a black hole. Windows users at work don’t care about it, but around me when it’s their personal computer, it’s a disaster.
switching would require not only learning one new thing, but a large number of new things
Any Ubuntu from 10 years ago is identical to the latest Windows. It’s laziness, fear, or being hostage, but it’s certainly not learning something new. Also, Windows 11 is completely different from the previous versions and it didn’t seem to bother them.
My parents are almost completely technological-illiterate (i.e. due to old age my father doesn’t even have a cellphone nor knows how to use it, and my mother barely can know how to do calls in her phone - both of them don’t know how to use a computer) but they know they don’t know about stuff - so hearing stories like that kind of make me be thankful they’re like that and that they will hear me when needing some advice or need to do something involving something tech-y
7 steps? I have it down to 3
- don’t by will 11 home
- when at the account creation screen select This will be domain joined.
- create local account.
Thanks. Handy to know.
(Just checking if this federates. Edit: it did immediately.)
It did!
Lemmy is the 1.45% user base on steam hardware surveys os section. https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/Steam-Hardware-Software-Survey-Welcome-to-Steam
By far most people want to use windows. The people that are loud on here about Linux are the only ones that don’t so thank you for a solution that’s not the constant post saying just install Linux. Its not intuitive for almost all users aside IT people and enthusiasts.
By far most people want to use windows.
Do they though? I’d bet a significant share do not “want” to, but they are stuck there, convinced there are no viable alternatives.
Windows intuitively making you jump through 7 steps to not have an online account. The reality sadly is most Windows users will just be pushed by Microsoft to use a Microsoft account to access their own PC.
Only 1% of Windows users who are IT people and enthusiasts will find out how to avoid being forced into internet based accounts.
But more intuitive than constantly working against Windows.
If installing something like Linux Mint is not intuitive enough for someone, they probably don’t even know what they’re doing on Windows either.
You click a button, it’s as difficult as installing Windows since XP.
You down vote me for saying the truth.
If you think installing Linux is hard you’ve either never done it and let other people dictate your opinions, you’re incompetent with computers or you can’t follow a simple step-by-step guide.
If you or someone you know sucks with computers, that’s fine. I get not moving someone from Win to Linux if they can’t understand the digital equivalent of tying their shoes. Just get a Chromebook if that’s the case.
Barring cases of disability, using Windows at a basic level is not hard. Most home users use it to browse the dust on the upper crust of the internet, write a doc, print shit and nothing more. I bet if you swapped Win for Linux on most people’s computers and riced it to look like Win 11 many of them would be none the wiser.
Also, if you’re a Lemmy user and you have a basic understanding of how this platform works I guarantee you have the basic capacity to successfully install Linux on an old computer.
Honestly a lot of people just don’t realize how easy it actually is. They think it’s something arcane and strange
I had a family member call me because they were having difficulty with a light switch. They’re not dumb, just set in their ways and can’t be bothered to learn something else. Plenty of these people don’t like change just because it’s different. They got confused when windows started doing the rotating desktop pictures because they didn’t realize it was still their desktop. Do I think they could eventually use Linux? Probably. Do I want to deal with even more questions? No. Could they install it themselves? Absolutely not without help.
It’s not even viable for me. I simply cannot use Linux daily because all my jobs require software that doesn’t have a Linux version, or it does but it’s lacking necessary features, or there’s an alternative but I have to burn extra hours making it work with their systems/setup - hours I don’t have.
Or I have to use internally configured Remote Desktop profiles over a VPN (not to be confused with RDP), and you can’t do that specific use case on Linux because it requires using the company’s internal Windows Store with specific Remote Desktop installation.
Or I have to use a specific Outlook instance, locally installed, because somehow they’ve blocked web access (I still haven’t figured out exactly how they set this up).
After a 12 hour day, sure, I can switch back to my dual boot Linux instance and spend 1-2 hours for personal use. But the ratio is still Windows-leaning no matter how you slice it.
People are usually talking about private computers. Of course you can’t simply switch your employers OS.
Unless of course you’re self-employed so suddenly you have to start dual booting. Linux for gaming and work, Windows for windows-specific work lol
I work at an MSP 99% of all machines we deploy for our clients are windows based. The oobe /bypassnro is just mandatory for initial setup. Yes, there are ways around it post setup but it’s just that much extra to do.
Having a local admin account for domain or azure/entra joined is still very useful. I don’t get why MS refuses to accept this. (Money/data harvesting aside, we all know the real reason, just wish they’d just admit to it).
This. When the user hasn’t even showed up yet, setting up a local account out of the box saves a bunch of time.
Honestly, guys, gals and others, Microsoft is making it crystal clear they don’t want you to use their OS. It’s not your OS, it’s theirs. Stop trying mangle it into something it is not. If you need registry edits just to make the OS usable, it’s not worth it. It’s not for you. Please, please, please look at alternatives that respect you, your intelligence, your privacy and your data. One day Microsoft will push an update that will lock you out of your machine unless you create an account. Jumping through these hoops is just delaying the inevitable. Using an OS is not worth all this effort and stress.
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Install. Linux. Mint.
My sarcasm has less steps than this workaround. A linux install has less steps than that.
Meta : I’d be curious to know the ratio of people downvoting the “Linux!” suggestion who actually do so from Windows.
People who can’t or don’t want to use Linux should just use Windows LTSC or IOT. It’s honestly the next best thing. I just set it up for my brother. When you open up the start menu on the fresh install and there is nothing there out of the box, it’s such a nice feeling. No ads, no games, no onedrive, nothing. The only thing LTSC has is Microsoft Edge but even that one you can uninstall.
Licenses are expensive, but you can easily activate it with mas.
How expensive is expensive? And you usually can’t just buy a single license, right? You have to have an enterprise agreement and buy some minimum number.
Bought an old laptop for my daughter’s first computer. She’s going to just learn typing and some simple stuff. Not able to install Windows with a local account. Fedora KDE it is then.
This is great. Most other comments only talking about how the solution is to “install Linux”. But thats not a viable solution for us Admins setting up PC’s for users in a company who barely understand how to use a Windows machine, never mind them ever even hearing of the word Linux.
I would love to install Linux on some users machines that dont use the PC for anything other than Internet Access. But I know they would still have a cow.
Since I saw they were getting rid of Bypassnro ive been panicking, wondering if I’m going to start having to set up a Microsoft account for all my users. I’ll test this on Monday and hopefully breath easy. That is until they decide to strip us of this solution as well.
Iirc they aren’t getting rid of the method, they’re just making it less obvious.
If you’re managing fleets of windows installs you should already be using some kind of autounattend.xml script for settings like Automated Winstall. More info in this video. You can also use older Windows 11 ISOs and update after setup if you’re uncomfortable with that.
Not defending the decision by Microsoft, just pointing out some workarounds that should continue to work.
I agree. Lemmy is like. “Use Linux…”
“Oh you still want to use Windows? Why do you still drown puppies and club baby seals?”
Deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me clubbing seals and installing windows.
Oh, yeah… Linux. I think I saw one of those at the zoo
The just install Linux crowd gets really old. How’s that gonna help on a work machine where I HAVE to use Office to collaborate? Oh right, it’s not! Totally unhelpful.
100% of my office relies on at least WSL.
All our servers are Linux.
Tons of huge multi-national companies are already using Google Docs which run great in Linux.
It’s coming.
Its a cybersecurity issue so it is inevitable, browser apps are the future because corporations don’t want files sitting on a filesystem, they want to keep them in their enterprise storage. ChromeOS is the future, or something like it.
Because they aren’t trying to help, they are just trying to feel superior about something by fixating on their survivor bias and ignoring whatever context people might have for still using Windows or having a dual-boot instead of just getting rid of it.
I don’t think this is it. Many Linux users who evangelize were Windows users once, they have a pretty good understanding of the context and the challenges that exist in that migration for both them and less tech-savy others.
Inching closer snd closer to the Year of the Linux Desktop, to the point where Windows-focused media like LTT started talking about it, didn’t happen because people said “both are good”.
It’s like politics, change for the better in a capatilist system happens with noise.
I’m a huge FOSS advocate and recommend Linux over Windows. I understand the challenges it repsents for users in a work environment. And those users will get Windows, for now, but they will continue to hear about its problems and the benefits of Linux whenever they ask me or complain. Because that’s what opens the doors, even if it’s annoying in the moment.
Just like politics, repetition of the problems they are making worse, repetition, and more repetition, until the ignorant learn the better path forward.
Edit: you know what? It doesn’t matter, not like you would believe my words anyway, just enjoy your life and I’ll… Not enjoy mine.
work machine where I HAVE to use Office to collaborate?
Taking the bait, what is specific to Office that is needed?
Sharepoint mainly. Mandatory at work. I don’t run IT.
Eh, depending on what’s being done office.com is fine for most.
That aside, if this is a business and you’re using office apps, you have an account that should be getting used during setup. Thats not who this workaround is for, and not who the “just install Linux” comment is for.
Eh, depending on what’s being done office.com is fine for most.
I want to live in your fantasy land.
if you’re an admin with O365 and not using AAD on your devices, its your own problem.
Why do I want even more shit in the cloud? Some stuff I want on-prem and don’t need it in the cloud.
Plus, it’s now Entra ID.
I want to live in your fantasy land.
Its not hard. Just have a production Linux desktop and a production windows laptop, and it becomes pretty clear what you can do. Basic memos and emails are no problem through the web, and thats a huge number of people.
Why do I want even more shit in the cloud? Some stuff I want on-prem and don’t need it in the cloud.
Why buy cloud shit and then not use cloud shit?
Just don’t buy cloud shit and join to a local domain.
Plus, it’s now Entra ID.
Let me know when I need to type that at the CLI and I’ll stop calling it aad.
Libre Office…
If someone doesn’t understand how to use Windows, they’ll probably find Linux easier. Probably all they need is Firefox and Libre office.
I think libre office is even a maybe in this case. Give them a browser and they’ll be fine.
If you’re setting them up for a company, you’ll join too a domain anyway and it’s a non-issue. Probably even have it automated using WDS or a similar 3rd party solution.
Doesn’t make it any less annoying as a policy from Ms, but for any company of like 50+ employees, it shouldn’t affect anything.
I have not set up WDS for my company but its on my list of learning how to do. Currently I go through the process of setting up a local admin before I add to domain. So I go through initial setup and then add to domain once I’m at the desktop.
I’m one IT guy for a company of 150 users.
Don’t say Linux then. If they already barely know windows, that’s an ideal situation, it’s going to be similarly confusing either way.
If your concern is that you think they would run into more stability issues when using a linux-based OS vs Windows, that’s a reasonable concern. But if we’re comparing against a sufficiently stable distro release, I don’t think it’s well founded.
Question: what is the downside of making a throwaway ms account upon install and never touching that account again?
The unacceptable thing for me is that it requires internet access to use the operating system. That seems completely unnecessary.
Ah so after install and throwaway account is set up, you can’t log in to the computer if your internet is down or turned off?
Yeah, it’s called wipe the drive and install linux.
This guy fucks!
That’s right. Even if you have to use a windows app that Linux compatibility layers don’t support, you can banish Windows 11 to a virtual machine.
Oh, weird, even in a virtual machine it wants an account. Anyone know where I can find a bypass method? :-)
The number of Windows applications that don’t run via compatibility layers is small and shrinking. Unless everyone is a video editor who steams professional Valorant then they can find software to do what they need done.
video editor who steams professional Valorant
What about Kdenlive or OBS Studio for that?
It was more than kernel anticheat from Valorant that I was aiming at.
OBS works great (though it did have issues with Wayland) and kdenlive as well, but in these arguments the person is always going to insist that they can only use Adobe products, because they don’t work and they’re trying to prove that you can’t use Linux.
It was more than kernel anticheat from Valorant that I was aiming at.
There’s an easy solution to that too: Don’t buy games with kernel anticheat.
Thankfully valorant is free
Just put Linux on the VM.
