4 ms·

And I’m confident I don’t want to use an operating system that forces me to disclose my email address to use the damn computer. I just bought a Microsoft brand

And I’m confident I don’t want to use an operating system that forces me to disclose my email address to use the damn computer. I just bought a Microsoft branded laptop and to my horror it wouldn’t let me even create a local account without giving it an email. I gave it a fake one and now it pesters me every couple minutes to validate it.

wannacboatmovie 3y ago
This isn't a real world problem when 5 seconds of Googling is all that is needed to bypass it. FWIW, I installed Linux two days ago and could not decrypt the root volume because of a bug that doesn't load the keyboard driver early enough in the boot process to let you actually type in the password. So you're stuck with a blinking cursor asking for your password and no keyboard input. That's a real problem and why people come crawling back to Windows.
- brokenmachine 3y ago
  I've never had that problem on Linux. What distro? Is it a known issue?
  - bevekspldnw 3y ago
    I’m gonna guess operator error on this one.
    - wannacboatmovie 3y ago
      Well you guessed wrong. The amount of denial around Linux's abhorrent UX in 2024 is staggering. There are mailing list reports dating back a few years with many other users experiencing the same issue, the going theory is a bug in GRUB's USB keyboard drivers. No one has any idea why or how to fix it. GP is complaining about having to supply an email address and the alternative is a system that in some cases is literally unbootable after a fresh install. But it's local accounts only so it's all good.
      - brokenmachine 3y ago
        Seems like there's a fair few other commenters who haven't had that issue as well. I'm also going with bad hardware or user error until you actually link to the issue or even say what distro you were using. Did you try on different hardware, or on a different USB port, or with a different keyboard? Did you try a different distro? Which Window Manager was it? You mentioned decryption, what encryption was it, and how was that set up? By what method did you install the distro? Did you ever get it working? Could be a weird USB chipset on your motherboard. It seems like an odd complaint, because most people don't have the problem you experienced. I bought a Ryzen minipc and the wifi didn't work on it with a "fresh install" of Windows. I didn't just give up, I downloaded the drivers onto a USB stick and fixed it. It'd be nice if everything worked immediately, but unfortunately that's not the world we live in. I'm defensive of Linux because without Linux we're trapped in whatever monetized and locked-down hell Windows and Apple are generous enough to provide us. Sure Linux is not perfect but I'd still want it to succeed no matter how much effort it was to get a keyboard working. Also because I actually think Linux works really great for my purposes. I have to mess with it initially to get it working, but once it's working it rarely breaks and happily chugs on forever. No forced updates, no bullshit. I feel like I actually own my PC. Just how I like it. No matter what OS or hardware you buy, there's always issues. Blaming Linux overall because you had what I would definitely say is an uncommon issue that may even be due to your particular hardware seems... uncharitable.
      - pjmlp 3y ago
        It is the usual "Well it works for me" that you see in all Linux forums, since its inception, and when it works and you have to jump through several weekends trying to configure EFI booting, well it is those pesky OEMs not wanting to take the FOSS culture into their money maker.
        brokenmachine 3y ago
        OP didn't reply on what distro or hardware he's using and mentions years of posts on some mailing list about what would be a completely showstopping bug, but never posts a link or replies to specific questions about the issue. User error or bad hardware. Move along, nothing to see here.
- bevekspldnw 3y ago
  Nope, they just changed it, the old bypasses don’t work. The sole work around is to put in a fake email and then suffer the prompts.
  - rekoil 3y ago
    So shift + F10 and OOBE\BYPASSNRO no longer works to skip network setup (and therefore be unable to use a Microsoft account, forcing it to allow a local account)? What about computers with no network connection available until you install a driver, can you just not use Windows on such computers anymore?
latentcall 3y ago
You can get around this by using “no@thankyou.com”. Just type a random password for it and it’ll just have you make a local account. Although all of this isn’t necessarily worth using such a hostile OS. I work at an MSP and unfortunately Windows is the thing.
- tedunangst 3y ago
  Weird, because that's the site citicard uses for their reward program.
- bevekspldnw 3y ago
  Yeah I did that but it keeps nagging to verify the email. I don’t know if it will give up at some point. It’s absurdly user hostile. Not to mention they are clearly forcing email so they can key it against the MUID ads cookie.
pjmlp 3y ago
It is in line with Apple and Google devices that everyone loves, Microsoft is late to the party.
circuit10 3y ago
It looks like there may be decent Linux support on these chips, though I’m not sure if custom drivers for the hardware in each laptop would be needed?

wannacboatmovie 3y ago

This isn't a real world problem when 5 seconds of Googling is all that is needed to bypass it. FWIW, I installed Linux two days ago and could not decrypt the root volume because of a bug that doesn't load the keyboard driver early enough in the boot process to let you actually type in the password. So you're stuck with a blinking cursor asking for your password and no keyboard input. That's a real problem and why people come crawling back to Windows.

brokenmachine 3y ago
I've never had that problem on Linux. What distro? Is it a known issue?
- bevekspldnw 3y ago
  I’m gonna guess operator error on this one.
  - wannacboatmovie 3y ago
    Well you guessed wrong. The amount of denial around Linux's abhorrent UX in 2024 is staggering. There are mailing list reports dating back a few years with many other users experiencing the same issue, the going theory is a bug in GRUB's USB keyboard drivers. No one has any idea why or how to fix it. GP is complaining about having to supply an email address and the alternative is a system that in some cases is literally unbootable after a fresh install. But it's local accounts only so it's all good.
    - brokenmachine 3y ago
      Seems like there's a fair few other commenters who haven't had that issue as well. I'm also going with bad hardware or user error until you actually link to the issue or even say what distro you were using. Did you try on different hardware, or on a different USB port, or with a different keyboard? Did you try a different distro? Which Window Manager was it? You mentioned decryption, what encryption was it, and how was that set up? By what method did you install the distro? Did you ever get it working? Could be a weird USB chipset on your motherboard. It seems like an odd complaint, because most people don't have the problem you experienced. I bought a Ryzen minipc and the wifi didn't work on it with a "fresh install" of Windows. I didn't just give up, I downloaded the drivers onto a USB stick and fixed it. It'd be nice if everything worked immediately, but unfortunately that's not the world we live in. I'm defensive of Linux because without Linux we're trapped in whatever monetized and locked-down hell Windows and Apple are generous enough to provide us. Sure Linux is not perfect but I'd still want it to succeed no matter how much effort it was to get a keyboard working. Also because I actually think Linux works really great for my purposes. I have to mess with it initially to get it working, but once it's working it rarely breaks and happily chugs on forever. No forced updates, no bullshit. I feel like I actually own my PC. Just how I like it. No matter what OS or hardware you buy, there's always issues. Blaming Linux overall because you had what I would definitely say is an uncommon issue that may even be due to your particular hardware seems... uncharitable.
    - pjmlp 3y ago
      It is the usual "Well it works for me" that you see in all Linux forums, since its inception, and when it works and you have to jump through several weekends trying to configure EFI booting, well it is those pesky OEMs not wanting to take the FOSS culture into their money maker.
      - brokenmachine 3y ago
        OP didn't reply on what distro or hardware he's using and mentions years of posts on some mailing list about what would be a completely showstopping bug, but never posts a link or replies to specific questions about the issue. User error or bad hardware. Move along, nothing to see here.
bevekspldnw 3y ago
Nope, they just changed it, the old bypasses don’t work. The sole work around is to put in a fake email and then suffer the prompts.
- rekoil 3y ago
  So shift + F10 and OOBE\BYPASSNRO no longer works to skip network setup (and therefore be unable to use a Microsoft account, forcing it to allow a local account)? What about computers with no network connection available until you install a driver, can you just not use Windows on such computers anymore?

latentcall 3y ago

You can get around this by using “no@thankyou.com”. Just type a random password for it and it’ll just have you make a local account. Although all of this isn’t necessarily worth using such a hostile OS. I work at an MSP and unfortunately Windows is the thing.

tedunangst 3y ago
Weird, because that's the site citicard uses for their reward program.
bevekspldnw 3y ago
Yeah I did that but it keeps nagging to verify the email. I don’t know if it will give up at some point. It’s absurdly user hostile. Not to mention they are clearly forcing email so they can key it against the MUID ads cookie.

pjmlp 3y ago

It is in line with Apple and Google devices that everyone loves, Microsoft is late to the party.

circuit10 3y ago

It looks like there may be decent Linux support on these chips, though I’m not sure if custom drivers for the hardware in each laptop would be needed?