In the latest Windows 11 preview build, Microsoft removed the “bypassnro” command, which let users skip signing into a Microsoft Account when installing Windows.
Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5516 (Dev Channel)
L I N U X
1000 percent. I did this for myself a year ago and haven't looked back.
I did 6 months back to linux mint. The experience is smooth
Seems an alternative, easier method was found: https://www.windowscentral.com/software-apps/windows-11/an-even-better-microsoft-account-bypass-for-windows-11-has-already-been-discovered
Relevant part:
But fret not, as a new, perhaps better bypass has already been discovered that still uses the command prompt (which you can open with Shift + F10) and makes skipping the Microsoft Account sign-in step a total breeze.
Discovered by user @witherornot1337 on X, typing "start ms-cxh:localonly" into the command prompt during the Windows 11 setup experience will allow you to create a local account directly without needing to skip connecting to the internet first.
Shit like that has to be a leak, idk how else you'd just pull that out of one's ass.
"The bypass uses a CXH (cloud experience host) URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) string during the OOBE to invoke the hidden local account setup screen." this had to be data mined or something yeah.
Fix:
open this site: https://schneegans.de/windows/unattend-generator/
check your options that you like
download your xml
download win 11 iso
put on stick (with rufus) with the downloaded xml file
install win 11
profit
I've had issues with the installer from 24H2 for my unattended. I had to use the previous versions installer and installed the 24H2 ISO.
More and more people just need to switch to Linux and grow the userbase so more and more proprietary software create Linux builds just like how Maya and Davinci Resolve are available for Linux. If your computer is a web browser, you should be on Linux. Firefox, Chrome, Edge are all on Linux
If you're a casual photo editor, Darktable. A casual photo editor can probably be well served with GIMP or Krita. If you're a web browser and digital painter Krita. If you edit videos, Davinci Resolve and Kdenlive. Office - OnlyOffice, Libre office, WPS Office
Or you can always pay for Wine and help it develop. Usually popular applications work well.
I put this in another thread: It's not a big deal. They're removing the bypassnro.cmd script, which is just this:
@echo off
reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE /v BypassNRO /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
shutdown /r /t 0
You can still use shift-F10 at the same point, type those two lines (not the @ECHO OFF), and it will achieve the same result.
I will copypaste your comment next time people complain Linux is hard to learn.
start ms-cxh:localonly
A bitch to remember compared to the bypassnro though.
Well, who cares. I'm never installing Windows again anyway.
You know, if you copied those three lines into a text file, then saved it as bypassnro.cmd, you'll have solved that problem.
So you're telling me 2% of new Window's users won't be forced to make an account? Neat!
This is not about the technically savvy. The populace is being conditioned into not owning what they purchase. This will in turn make everyone's life worse.
Ultimately this change, while frustrating, probably doesn't change the initial value for those who fit these two categories:
These people were already going to go out of their way to use the OOBE bypass. They still will. This is no more effort thanbit already was.
Microsoft crossed the line already by disallowing offline account creation through their default setup process.
upvoted for visibility.
Its not a big deal the same way cancelling adobe subscription is not a big deal.
I have to have Windows, a VM at least, for reasons.
A nameless install, decrapified with Chris Titus' decrapifier, installer and streamliner script is actually decent
I mean, not really. You had to open command prompt anyways. The command is just a bit different now. There's no monetary penalty here, just a few more keystrokes.
This change ensures that all users exit setup with internet connectivity
And what if someone doesn’t have internet connectivity?
But then how we can put advertisements in the Start Menu, and spy on them once our Project2025 overlords want the general populous to be fully committed to extremist christianity 24/7?
no computer for you
Are people shocked that windows keeps removing things that allow the os to be usable and debloated?
Copilot recording your screen will be a non optional feature before win11 is over.
So happy that I switched to linux. Microsoft has been one of the main forces of enshitification of the world. Fuck em. I cant play a bunch of games with my friends anymore, and I have to learn a few new CAD programs, which is like 10 thousand hours of work that I am flushing down the toilet. Worth it.
I just bypass the requirement by installing Linux Mint instead
I did the same on my media center mini PC. Any idea how to check/enable HDR?
The answer is a bit complicated. Linux has a long history with HDR where you would need exact software and hardware, or else no HDR... Just know that it will get easier because the ball has already started to roll in the correct direction.
But the shortest way I can say it now,
If you use Valve's game mode, (which is possible to get either using steamos, bazzite, chimera OS, nobara, or you can manually set it up. You should be able to get it to work. This should work for windows games that support HDR. AFAIK there are no Linux games yet supporting HDR. It should be possible to get videos playing with HDR also, but that would be an exercise for the reader, or wait until people make it easier.
Please correct me if I am wrong, but I currently believe the newest version, of KDE and Gnome are now HDR ready. If I am wrong you might just need the newest beta which will become stable Q2 this year.
Playing videos, I believe the newest version of MPV just got HDR support. With more apps incoming.
Anything that let's a gamepad or a remote browse your videos? AFAIK not yet, but be patient, as this is all new
You'll want to not use cinnamon for HDR, cinnamon is not going to get it for a very long time, KDE is a much more up to date environment and it works mostly out of the box on the most recent versions. Although I don't think those patches have made it to mint yet.
HDR is kinda complicated right now.
As it stands, it's only available on the Plasma and Gnome desktop environments.
The HDR stack on Linux has went through a lot of change recently, and much of the stack has only just been finalised/standardised. It'll take a while to mature, and to arrive on distros like Mint.
What is hdr and why do people care about it? Seems like another doly atmos that is just made to sell expensive hardware and invent a solution looking for a problem.
We’re removing the bypassnro.cmd script from the build to enhance security and user experience of Windows 11. This change ensures that all users exit setup with internet connectivity and a Microsoft Account.
Any windows fanboy cares to explain how this supposedly enhances a user's security?
The spin on requiring an internet connection being phrased as 'ensures all users exit setup with internet connectivity' is amazing too.
Not wanting to seem like a windows fanboi in the slightest, but.. I guess they're saying that if you log in to your windows box using their cloud authentication, then they can better protect your account, force regular password changes, force password complexity requirements.. and because they're in a position to see all auth attempts against that account, they can react to attacks and patterns of attacks.. having said that. a lot of those advantages go away if you're not actually connected to the internet.. but then, you also lose timely updates by not being connected... it's a difficult question.. I can see how it could be better for a non computer-savvy user to log in using a microsoft account, but also worse and more frustrating for advanced users who don't want to touch microsoft's cloud at all. I guess they made the decision based on what was better for the majority of users. If you're upset by this, you're not really their target audience.
That's what they're saying - it's not true, but it is what they're saying.
then they can better protect your account, force regular password changes, force password complexity requirements..
if that was the goal, they wouldn't be saying on the password input screen to "choose the most simple password", and especially they wouldn't accept that field to be left blank
if you are not logged in, they can't setup onedrive to automatically steal all pictures and documents of the unsuspecting user, and they can't setup bitlocker with a cloud key that they could use to lock you out of all your data when they think so.
windows update has zero reasons to not work without an MS account, and actually it does work that way.
Thank you
Y’all is this true:
No one would accidentally enter the special anti-spyware command so they’re screwing the 1% who are privacy hawks without benefiting the 99% who were already dark patterned into online accounts.
It increases security of the Microsoft share price
The command (C:\Windows\System32) OOBE\bypassnro (.cmd) one types into the command prompt (after opening it with Shift+F10) for the bypass is the location of a batch file they will be removing (the parenthesized parts are optional, implied by the command interpreter, and so is any capitalization). You can still do whatever it's doing (adding a registry key and restarting) by typing the command manually or providing a copy of the file on a USB drive. After a restart, the OS will check for the registry key AND lack of internet connection to provide the local account option.
For the record, the contents of the file are
batch
@echo off reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE /v BypassNRO /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f shutdown /r /t 0
The first line is optional, and so is the third if you're OK with restarting manually. If creating the file on Unix-based systems, make sure the newline sequence is CRLF (DOS/Windows standard).
Obligatory shoutout to literally any Linux distro, which does not need this workaround, and is usually easier to install and set up than debloating a fresh Windows 11 install.
Rufus has an option to auto add this for you when building a bootable drive. Works great.
Still using Rufus? Ventoy is the way of the future. One USB, hundreds of ISOs.
Edit: Seems I was unaware of some potential risks with the binary blobs pre-built in Ventoy. No threat has been found, but there are supply-chain concerns. It appears there is a fork where someone is cleaning up the build process.
Until they remove checking that reg key from all versions other than maybe enterprise. If they decide that running windows requires an MS online account, they can keep bumping up the difficulty of running it without whenever they want.
They are keeping around so many deprecated features for internal use and whatnot, I would be surprised if they did remove this registry check.
Until Windows 12 is released, you can always use an old ISO and then update to the newest version.
Thank you! I've bookmarked this for next time I have a Windows reinstall! Hoping it still works then...
Just one more reason to skip Windows 11…
every passing day i feel increasingly gratified to have switched my previously win11 laptop to linux mint. aside from the sheer principle of microsoft being ass, i also fucking despise all of windows' AI bullshit. Fuck copilot for eternity.
Just be sure to check support before buying any newish laptop. I really like my ASUS Duo Pro 2024, but ASUS adamantly refuses to lift a finger for proper Linux support for special features. Even the audio chipset which is standard somehow doesn't work with default kernels due to something they've done. Dual screen can be made to work with some scripting-fu, but the keyboard's multimedia keys just don't work at all.
Vote with your wallets and be noisy to those brands who don't support Linux well. Let them know if lack of Linux support was why you didn't buy.
I tried setting up a dual boot Mint next to my Win 11 last night. Just so I can experiment with getting all the (replacement) programs of my Win 11 install to work on there… froze during install and was busy for hours getting my boot files for Win 11 back.
I’m not a technical genius or anything and now I’m scared to try again. I assume it’s way easier if I would just rip the bandaid off and do it in one go. Sadly too much relies on me still being able to use the computer close to the way I could before. Ah well. Another day, another chance to nuke the boot files.
Yeah, it’s just ridiculous. It doesn’t have to be this way! 🤦🏻♂️
Just one more reason to skip Windows…
FTFY
I like seeing these posts, non issue now that im on linux, need more ppl to swap to help the piracy ecosystem
I’m waiting for things like HDR to work properly on Linux - once it’s as easy to mod and play games on Linux as it is Windows I’ll be making the jump.
Lots of the most best tools for desktop Linux are free and open source, so you really don't need to pirate desktop software. As far as multimedia goes, I generally find it much easier to sail the seas on Linux as opposed to Windows where everything felt hacky and difficult to isolate.
My hardware refresh came up this year. I asked for a MacBook instead of a windows laptop for the first time in my long career. Linux isn’t an option at my org yet.
My work laptop has W11. It's....fine. But I don't have to manage it, so... ¯\(°_o)/¯
I had W11 on my personal gaming PC for a total of 6 months before I got fed up with it. Running W10 until I make sure it'll run everything I need it to on Linux Mint (LMDE).
A few weeks ago I helped one of my client's employees set up their brand new laptop, which came with Win11 installed, of course. They just need it for basic work stuff and there's no chance in hell anything other than Windows is a viable option here.
We work remotely so I would help them get set up to a point where they could at least share their screen to me, or I could take over via remote access myself, to finish the installation process. I just needed to guide them through the steps "blind" for a short while. Easy peasy, right?
So we go through the Windows 11 first time setup together. All seems to go ok until Windows asks them to log into their MS account or create one. No problem, we should be able to do that, right? Only that we can't. We're connected to the WiFi, etc., yet they get some generic ass error message like "Sorry, something went wrong" and that's that.
Ok, so we can't log in with an online account. Let's try offline as a fallback! We set the username, password... "Sorry, something went wrong" again. We try to guess maybe it's the password, it doesn't match! Or it's not strong enough! So we try all these different things for ages. Again, we're getting no feedback whatsoever from Windows. Just "Something went wrong fuck you lol".
I don't use Windows myself, I've been a Linux user for years now, I don't have any freaking clue how to remotely diagnose a vague issue that literally prevents them from getting the laptop to a functional state. So I Google the problem and the recommended answer is to run this magic "bypassnro" command. It will cut all the mandatory online account bullshit, move straight to a reliable offline account setup screen, and allow us to, you know, actually do work? And it worked!
If I hadn't had that command at my disposal, that I was forced to use by Microsoft's broken ass setup UX, I would've probably spent twice or three times longer coaching my non-tech-savvy client through booting into fail safe mode and doing all kinds of arcane sysadmin shit that I don't even have to ever think about in Linux. All this just to get them into the desktop, on a brand new laptop.
And Microsoft have now decided to take it away. Nice one.
I was trying to set up win 11 laptop for my mom and ran into S mode, that took like an hour to walk my elderly mom through the steps to disable it so I could remote in. Finally gave up and grab a MS approved remote desktop app to remote in a disable the S mode, its s for Shit. Of course the other remote desktop app crashed. Sorry family, no more windows PCs for you
You could've just had your mom install linux and you wouldn't have to remote in since theres nothing to do. Everything just works.
I've got my first son or daughter on the way, I'm thinking they might be learning Linux as their first OS
Uh... what? They only thing they have in common is following the POSIX standard. The moment you step outside of that POSIX lowest common denominator, it becomes abundantly clear just how different they are.
I mean compared to some elements of windows, yeah Linux is more similar to macos. But compared to other elements of macos, Linux is more similar to windows. But to say it's super similar to either one in particular is kind of missing what makes each of them what they are.
Macos and Linux skills and fluency aren't significantly more transferable than between Linux and Windows. They're three pieces of software that ultimately try to do the same thing, but go about it in drastically different ways. There are only so many ways from your house to the grocery store, so some of them are bound to cross.
The only difference I see both try to follow posix macos follows the unix specification linux doesn't and that's about it
This will be the year of the Linux desktop.
Funny u say that, I’ve switched! 🐧
One of us!
I personally know three, myself included, who are switching right now.
If Microsoft keeps fucking up at every turn, it seems like at some point the only thing that'll keep them afloat is workplace/education investments in their environment. Seems like they're even losing their grip on being the default OS preinstalled on non-apple PC hardware and the advantage that provided.
Just had to set up two pcs for work. Trying to get around the account setup and thinking about all the bullshit that comes with windows I just installed Linux mint.
I'm switching as soon as I finish grad school.
ive been on windows all my life but as of last week it's the first time that ive had zero windows machines in my life since i installed linux mint on them. ive never been happier.
Apple does this.
Microsoft is now doing this.
I wonder how long until Google start doing it with Android 🤔
This future is so fucking dystopian
You can still very easily use macOS without an Apple ID or iCloud account, actually. You lose out on iMessage, FaceTime and the App Store, basically. But that’s about it. And they don’t nag you about it ever again unless you try to send an iMessage or what have you.
On iOS and Android it’s effectively a requirement though, because App Store / Google Play. Phone is not too useful if you can’t install any apps.
How the hell are we supposed to install it without a Internet connection? I worked in a company that was so hard on security that only certified machines were allowed access to the net, so virtual machines were not allowed to access the LAN and therefore the Internet. Generally not a problem as we just used them to test software on different OS versions, so no Internet required.
This change disallows all offline installs. What is their gain? Are they that keen on our data or are they planning to use the connection to a Microsoft account for something even worse than just selling personal information? I could think of a few reasons and none are nice...
They are indeed just that keen on our data.
They know they can't get rid of it for all of their customers, but they do want to make it as hard as possible for random users to do so.
I'm sure there's a way around it for institutional customers.
I guess this does not apply to Enterprise editions, but only to filthy peasants like us
I used the iso modification tool from the GitHub for ChrisTitus before installing with good results
Microsoft it the best ad for linux.
I'M OKAY WITH MAKING A WINDOWS ACCOUNT.
I'M JUST NOT OKAY WITH MY ~/ PATH BEING C:/Users/Jacobuedhbcuycbdhh55674c4bhdncy6448774/
THIS CAN ONLY BE FIXED BY CREATING A LOCAL USER AND THEN SIGNING IN
Maybe your parents should have picked a better name then.
Is that how it is these days? If I log with my Microsoft account on a Windows device, the username used is only part of my first name. It always annoyed be that it was cut in a very unnatural way and I had no way to change it. I searched for some way to fix it and what I found said it was auto generated way back in the first time I used it on a windows pc and that it was saved in my account in some attribute that nothing ever updates.
bypassw11.exe
deletemicrosoft.exe
windows is not user friendly
Exactly!
My answer to everyone saying "but Linux is hard..!"
No, it’s DIFFERENT!!
If using Cinnamon was your first learning experience on a computer, you’d think Windows is the worst user experience in the world!
I switched to Linux a few weeks back and setting up the work printer on my laptop took 2 seconds as opposed to the normal 10 minutes. I was gobsmacked
I've always thought that Unix (and therefore Linux) was much more internally consistent and accessible than Windows ever was.
Everything is in places that kind of make sense, there's heaps of documentation that comes with the system, you can set it up how you like it, you can see everything... There are actual logs that aren't hex gobbledygook...
I've been using computers long enough to know how to do my own tech support (also working in IT for a few years now, it sure does help). Been using Mint daily for more than a month now and I'm convinced average people can use it (or equivalent : Ubuntu, Pop...) hassle free.
But people must also accept to learn a bit about computers. Most don't know and don't want to.
Exactly. And if you use a desktop like Cinnamon or KDE Plasma, it really isn't that different, other than how you install software. I fully believe anyone can use it. Especially since the majority of computer users tend to only use them for browsing the web, email and light gaming. The learning curve is minimal.
Noooooo!!!! You can't just force us to use a Microsoft account!!! You have to allow us to use the bypasserino!!! Noooooooo!!!
IMO, Windows without a Microsoft account misses out on the least features, when compared to macOS without an Apple ID, iOS without an Apple ID, or Android without a Google accout. Sad that Microsoft keeps making it more and more difficult to bypass logging into a Microsoft accout during installation. But I use Linux anyways (btw)
Just another reason to switch to Linux
Great even more reasons to avoid it
I feel like this won't stop anyone who was already refusing to use a Microsoft account for windows. Anyone who was already bypassing the account requirement will still do so, it just will be more difficult. They've accomplished nothing except further pissing off some of their most competent user base.
They've accomplished nothing except further pissing off some of their most competent user base.
I don't think they've cared about the competent users for a very long time. They only want the users who click OK or Next without reading or thinking.
It is insecure to create one account with username and password during the setup process. The password should always come from your password manager. But you would not have access to your password manager during the installation process.
Please remove this step.
You also would not have access to your password manager when logging into your OS, would you?
While that is true, logging into your OS can also be done via 2FA, namely via a smartcard. It'd offer a similar protection to it, if not better.
Your new account will be online. Can access OneDrive and everything Microsoft Online offers. That means anyone with internet access can try to login to it so it has to be very secure.
Windows Hello can be used for local login. But I agree with you. I would love to be able to access my Keepassxc vault during the login process. But that might be hard to archive so better to use Windows Hello.
Fair point, but good luck convincing them about it.
I use that command partially because Microsoft accounts don't allow passwords as long as the password I like to use for my PC
Which suggests to me that MS stores plaintext passwords. Because a hash function doesn't care about the length of what it's hashing, the output will always be the same length, so they could verify a 300 character password with the same storage space as a 3 character password.
Genuine question:
What's the point of a long password on Windows? I understand that sometimes you don't want people accessing your stuff, but all it takes to bypass that and someone access your files is booting off of a USB stick. Or do you perhaps use full disk encryption?
Most people are more worried about remote attackers than someone physically putting hands on their PC. But, yes, you should pretty much without exception be using full disk encryption.
It's very assholish of Microsoft to lock bitlocker behind the Pro license.
It's mostly my penchant for longer passwords in general. I did not plan to swap up strategies for my personal PC login account. Seeing microsoft demand a shorter password than I use almost everywhere else was... not promising.
W10 LTSC has support until 2032 😎
What is Windows 10 LTSC? LTSC is the abbreviation of Long Term Servicing Channel. It is a stripped-down enterprise operating system based on a specific version of Windows 10. Windows 10 LTSC don’t have pre-installed apps such as Microsoft Edge, Cortana assistant, News, etc. Using the LTSC service model, you can delay receiving feature updates and only receive monthly device quality updates.
Holy SHIT they made a version with the worst stuff removed AND they're going to maintain it longer? That is the version everybody should be using.
I'm slowly switching to linux but there are things I'm going to need Windows for for the foreseeable future, and I think I've found how I can make that happen. Thank you.
It's used for industrial applications like manufacturing and whatnot, stuff that really doesn't need to be updated regularly since the software is effectively legacy.
Hell, we've got tools from the 2000s still running Win2k.
yes but they make it hard to access, and it has legal issues too so you maybe shouldn't use it in a business setting
Thank you! I had no idea that this existed. This is a solution for me personally, but also a solution for our clusterfuck IT people at work that do not understand that we have hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts that need to be fulfilled with software that costs us $12 per day to use and probably wont run on windows 11, instead of breaking everything and migrating it to a software that costs us $32 a day to use but will work on windows 11.
Let me know how that goes!
(I use the 21H2 Enterprise IoT version, for personal use, i can't share openly how i obtained it, that is AFAIK the only version that goes up to 2032)
Here are the versions of W10 and their extended support dates. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-health/release-information
(Since you said you are a enterprise user, I am not sure what is the license eligibility for IoT exactly, but for non-IoT, you can go up to 2029 with version 1809)
1809 gang rise up
what happened in 1903 that made you say enough?
1809
let me get my top hat and monocle
Didn't Microsoft do the same thing with Windows 10 and EU prevented that?
Yup and this change will neither apply to the EU nor Enterprise 11 Customers. Guaranteed.
Off course, coz they wanna sell user behavior to marketers. This bullshit talks about the improved security are funny. I will never use anything from Microsoft or Google for personal stuff. I have to yet eliminate Apple - in progress.
Fuck Microsoft! Use Linux Mint
Is mint still using that old gnome fork DE? KDE Plasma might be a nicer and still familiar experience for people coming from windows
It's a fork of Gnome but its well maintined, very familliar to windows users, and very reliable.
I personally pefer KDE but Cinnamon is likely a better choice for new users.
Not to mention, Mint itself is a super reliable distro. I use Fedora but keep my partner on Mint and she has maybe 10% of the issues I do.
Yes, Mint uses Cinnamon desktop by default, which I believe was forked from Gnome. I like it, although I'm using Kubuntu at the moment. Cinnamon has that Windows-y look and feel to it, and retains some of the Gnome advantages.
A couple of years ago it took three tries to install windows without a bunch of junk added. Linux is the way my dudes and dudettes.
I will just have to sign it up to a domain then add a local user using the command prompt. Still a lot more trouble than installing it should be but I will not give in to this garbage push to make everyone have a microsoft account. I disable the store and all of it on every PC I install.
NRO
Doesn't that remind anyone of this other NRO? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Reconnaissance_Office
(Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Reconnaissance_Office#/media/File:NROL_39_vector_logo.svg)
It’s asinine to require me to be connected to the internet to use my computer. My work laptop was absolutely useless without the internet. There’s supposed to be a pin/password thing that lets you bypass this, but it would work maybe 30% of the time.
I also don’t get why I have to give Microsoft my name and an email address for my video game machine. (I get steam and proton yada yada, but I’m often playing anything that you can barely get to work on its native system - has anyone actually got EYE : Divine Cybermancy to run for more than ten minutes?)
Windows XP and 7 hit the mark I think. XP let you take it apart in beautiful ways, and had all kinds of wonderful eccentricities - which is also the problem, because XP was insecure af. Windows 7 got right what they figured out by Vista Service Pack 2 as far as security. Less aesthetics, less access to the internals, but also probably “better” for a normie.
The rule is supposedly that every other one is good or something. Maybe 12 will be good?
So here we go. Kiosk machines with random Microsoft account and MFA to private phone numbers. Glad I don’t have to manage that pile of s**t.
That's what W10 LTSC is for.
Until that isn’t supported anymore, yes. It’s a solution… for now.
My 1st desktop had Windows 95 on it. It worked OK. A few years later, I bought a laptop pc with WindowsME (Millennium Edition), and it became the last Windows product I've owned. A work colleague installed Windows 2000 on that laptop, and it worked for a couple months, until I got my "blue screen of death."
At that time, they started selling the ePC notebooks, available with WindowsXP or Linux (the XanderOS) I stepped out of my comfort zone, and got the XanderOS variant, and have had Linux computers since. I'm currently using Mint on an old Panasonic CF-30, and Ubuntu on 2 laptops built by System 76.
My wife likes Mac, but I'm not a fan. My kids get a pretty rounded experience, between using their moms Mac, their dads 2 variants of Linux, and their Chromebooks at school.
That's all well and good, what happens to your kids when they can't tick the Windows and MSOffice boxes on job applications?
I'm not having a go at you, I'll assume you've taught your kids how to approach the new and unknown in the IT fields, but if they have limited or zero experience with Microsoft products, they'll be at a disadvantage.
Oh, I don't discourage them from using/learning Microsoft products at all - they just don't happen to be in our home, because as consumers, my wife and I don't spend our money in Microsofts direction. While I can't say it with accuracy anymore, because it's been 20 years since my switch, one of the selling points with the Linux distributions was that some of them looked and felt like either Mac or Windows. My Ubuntu distribution looks pretty similar to my wife's Mac, and the initial installation of Linux Mint, several years ago was made to look and feel like Windows XP. Honestly, the last time I touched Windows was before retiring from the US Navy, where the Submarine LAN was run on Windown NT - but I retired in 2009.
If my kids came home with a Windows PC, or the cheaper option, wanted to turn one of my laptops into a dual-boot machine, I wouldn't care...more exposure to (that bad word) diversity in operating systems. I don't think they're missing out on not having Microsoft in our home though. Microsoft Word in the Tux world is Open Office, Microsofts Excel is Calc, etc....if you know one, you'll be able to work on the other.
did you ever PC game at all? If so, I'm curious what you did for work around. The main thing holding me back right now from jumping into the linux world before the end of Win10 support is how much I game and use Premier Pro and Photoshop.
Oh, you can set up a dual boot system, so you don't have to completely jump ship. They also have setups that run entirely on a thumb drive now.
I did dual boot for a little bit when I want into business 14 years ago. While I liked Linux, I wasn't sure I could run a business without Windows, but soon discovered that everything would be just fine without Windows, and got rid of it.
I'm in my mid-50s. I play Warzone 2100 and BOS wars on my computer. I've has Steam for several years, and have a game there....I think it's "World of Goo." I like to stick to games that serve as stress relievers, and take no more than about an hour. Between owning a business, 2 teens, 3 schools, 4 sports, a wife, a house that would love to fall apart if I'd only let it, a lawn to mow, and 2 antique cars I love to keep driving, I don't have much more time to let myself be sucked in to some of the really cool stuff I see.
I recently bought a replacement PS2 though...the old one broke, and I'm still in love with GTA Vice City. I usually just steal a cop car and do vigilante mode until I'm killed though.
As long as you're cool being a bit more restricted in multiplayer games (a lot work great! But some developers are blocking linux), and you're okay with AMD (nvidia is improving though), gaming is basically on par with Windows at this point.
In some cases it's even better. I have a few games that require weird tricks to get it to work under Windows, but work fine in proton. Even Elden Ring at launch ran better on linux because it didn't have the micro-stutter issue.
I just installed Linux Mint out of curiosity parallel to Windows on my tower.
I was suprised, that everything (drivers, bluetooth, dual monitors,...) worked out of the box- and since valve has strong support for Linux nowerdays due to their adaptions for the steamdeck, steam was already offered to be installed from the sw center.
I was able to install and successfully play games without any issues.
So from a gamers perspective: it is worth to invest the ~two hours setup time to give it a try ;)
Windows 11 has had enough red flags for me to switch to tablet, since modern PC's are way over performing to my needs anyway. Windows 11 experience was like a pilot for the HAL A.I. from a Space Odyssey.
Hey all what do you suggest for a school and game dev laptop with Linux for a ~$2k budget? I've been eyeballing framework but keep hearing mixed things
I like Thinkpad T and X series
My 2c from buying Linux laptops. I had an 11th gen System 76 Lemur Pro that was pretty great. (20 - 30 hour battery life, no joke...) Well... until it started failing. I had to send it it multiple times to be repaired under warranty. Their service and support was the worst I've ever experienced, and the final time it took 6 weeks to get it fixed. Then it promptly died again just out of warranty. :( I replaced it with an AMD Framework as a very early adopter in batch 1. It's been great so far other than a couple Mesa related bugs that came up, but nothing so bad as to make me regret it. It's not as polished as an Apple product, but has a similar price. That's maybe the worst thing I can say about it.
I like both of my laptops so far but have mixed feelings on both. I know it's not a lot to go on but here's been my experience so far. Dell XPS 15 and my new framework. Sorry, don't know the model name.
Two days ago I received a framework laptop for work but haven't been able to test anything other than installing Kubuntu. It was shipped to me from my employer so they had the final say in how it was configured but a few things went wrong. Not sure whose fault it was but in the end it's still fine. I configured it to have a mix of usb-c and usb-a ports, 3.5mm audio, and display port. It came with six usb-c modules. Fine. I can live with that. The thing that really made me mad was that I requested a keyboard with no Windows key and to have no OS installed. It came with Windows 11 installed and had the Windows key on the keyboard. I don't know who messed up but I'm not mad enough to do or say anything about. I do like that repairs and changes on this machine will be easier/possible. Oh...audio worked right away too so that was nice. Already better than the Dell XPS I bought with my own money and has crackling audio due to hardware not software issues. Works fine through an audio interface but the speakers sound like ass. I should have returned that machine right away.
bought with my own money and has crackling audio due to hardware not software issues. Works fine through an audio interface but the speakers sound like ass.
If its any consolidation my HP Envy, which is a normal consumer laptop that comes with windows, had that same crackling noise if I hold it at a weird angle.
I should have sent it back as well, but frankly that's just the state of the market RN. Companies don't give a f, even large ones.
System76.
Any Lenovo laptop is a very safe bet! You can just install Linux onto it and should work great
They're probably okay, but I've avoided Lenovo since that one time they injected their own certificate authority to break all your internet security and middle-man in their own ads (and spy on you? Who knows?).
Is this a US thing? I had to install windows 11 in a VM like a month ago and I didn't have to create MS account or use any bypass scripts.
in the latest preview build
i assume you didn't install today's beta release a month ago 😉
EDIT: nevermind, i re-read your comment... it's mandatory in some regions, I know for sure it's mandatory in the US and in Hungary (EU).
One other thing is that if you created the installer with Rufus, that adds some magic optionally that can bypass it. I wonder if that still works with this beta.
Install it with the English (World) region
Well, if I've got no way to bypass it (when setting up for customers), I'll create an account specifically for this purpose.
And proceed to poison the hell out of any data it sends.
Does it still let you sign in locally if you disable network interfaces in BIOS?
Does it still let you sign in locally if you disable network interfaces in BIOS?
Don't think so. The setup itself can't complete without internet.
I'm spiteful enough that I would have returned my new laptop (despite needing it for a trip in a couple of days) if I hadn't been able to bypass the account requirement by disabling the wifi.
What still pissed me off is that it would restart itself after downloading updates if it was left idle, and there was no straightforward option to turn that off. (I think I managed to break that "feature" but who knows how long that will work.) Turning my computer off is never acceptable unless I initiate it. It's about as obviously wrong as walking into my house uninvited or borrowing my stuff without asking me.
Man it must suck to set up a computer now on restricted networks.
Couldn't you just reinstall windows with an older ISO to bypass this? That's what I already do at work anytime I need to setup a new machine, gets rid of the manufacturer supplied programs bloatware. Plus Rufus has an option for triggering the bypass command automatically.
Yes, that works, too.
I still have an old copy of the installer with that command intact. Might be good to keep around.
this right here. I had to switch back to windows as just too much software I needed to use doesn't work on Linux wine or proton be damned. so I just use 21H2 until either Linux support becomes more mainstream or until the less likely option of Microsoft un-enshittifying. (LOL)
To be fair, this is home and not pro.
Good to know, but I will never sign into windows with an MS account at home. Fuck everything about this. It's either old build or 11 or still use 10 for the games I like, or I use Linux. Use that primarily as it is anyways.
Indeed I am also the same.
This with Windows 11 LTSC IoT edition?
Never understood why that batch script even became popular.. its so much easier to just choose install for an organization, then just never domain join it. Makes a local account, and is much easier
The problem with this is it doesn't work for home users that want to pay for their software. Crazy... I know... but those people do exist.
Ah, the home version is so limited that I basically just didn't even consider it an option. I guess if someone buys that version, then yeah thats not an option.
Meanwhile everyone here saying they switching to Linux (which is perfectly fine) have chik-fil-a and McDonald's accounts probably 🤣😆🤣
I mean, that's kind of a whole separate thing. An account in a mobile food ordering app is significantly less invasive than an account on your whole entire operating system- like, laughably so.
Never mind that one is on your mobile device, which is an incredibly invasive surveillance device as-is for all except those with enough dedication and paranoia. Conversely, a desktop is at least conceptually much more practical to harden for privacy.
For what it's worth I guess, I do not use mobile food ordering applications or accounts.
You're not getting the point.
A: You csn shop there without an account. It's your own choice. An account has pros and cons, and it's your choice.
B: I don't know how it works in US, but in my country a McDonald's account is a fair deal to me. They pay me a fair price for some personal info. And if I go to McDonald's and I for any reason feel like they shouldn't register that particular visit, I just don't use my account.
C: I want to use Windows, but logging into a Microsoft account does not give me any benefits worth the cons. So I use Windows without a Microsoft account. And it will be annoying to keep track of a "fake" account just for that.
I've been boycotting McDonalds since October 2023 mate what are u on
I do have a mcD app on my phone! My second phone with only untrusted apps and a fake gmail.
