We thought the cat-and-mouse game with Microsoft would last forever. But it seems that tolerance has come to an end. Microsoft has decided to purely and simply block the script used to bypass the Microsoft account and Internet connection requirements for installing Windows 11. Because this online procedure had the merit of annoying quite a few people, not only in the overclocking.com community but also among all the tinkerers who install and uninstall their OS. It’s safe to say that this decision is going to cause some gnashing of teeth in the PC world.
Installing Windows 11 without being tracked: it’s getting complicated
A quick reminder of the facts. When it was released, Windows 11 already required an Internet connection and a Microsoft account to install the Home edition. Users reluctant to hand over their digital lives on a platter to the American giant turned to alternative solutions. Various scripts and methods soon appeared on the web. These made it easy to bypass the limitations imposed by Microsoft. But today, the fun is over.
Microsoft is trying to justify this choice by claiming a better user experience and increased security. But let’s be serious for a minute: informed users know how to manage their logins without Microsoft holding their hand. Last but not least, the requirement to have a Microsoft account reinforces the collection of personal data, an increasingly sensitive issue, especially for the American giants that control the web.
There is no doubt that the rising tide of anger will have the merit of stimulating the ingenuity of hackers to invent new methods of getting round this barrier. Other methods already exist, but they are less accessible to novices. And the life expectancy of these methods is bound to shorten. Now, if you want to take a step back, this whole thing was written in advance. With Microsoft ‘s massive investments in the cloud and also in gaming, it was easy to guess that Windows was going to become the distribution platform for these services.