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this post was submitted on 29 Mar 2025
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I could never understand why people are so against MS account. There's a similar requirement to use products from Apple and Google and everyone is ok with that.
no they are not
You can install Android without any Google account. And install alternative stores. Similarly, you do not need AppleID to install MacOS. I believe this is the same for iOS.
Technically you can, but then your phone is pretty useless.
not really most of the stuff you from the play store can be installed without it.
Can you use Google Pay you paid for? No. Can you use Google Maps you paid for? No. The list goes on. That's unless you only want to browse Lemmy and post silly memes all day.
I didn't pay for any Google bullshit and barely use anything of theirs these days. I paid for the hardware. There are literally full custom roms that sandbox and/or disable their junk
You did pay for everything, you just decided you won't use the features you paid for. Your loss.
No they didn't. Google doesn't allocate money out of the Android phone sale for any of these services.
These services make money by making you the product. They don't make money unless you use it.
"If you don't make a Google account you can't use Google services" — no shit, Sherlock! But not everyone wants or needs to use Google services.
Credit cards are a thing. But you do not need to with so many free and better options. Why use google maps when you can use open street maps. additionally you can use the browser to visit google maps that way. Also nothing is stopping you side loading pirated apps. There are tons of options if you do not to use a google account.
Nope.
Yep.
I could never understand why microsoft is so against local user account. There's a similar freedom from corporate fuckery when using Linux and everyone is ok with that.
Because normal users don't need a local account. If you want one - use the enterprise edition of Windows.
... why would I want an online account? OneDrive is (or should be) optional, and can be replaced with any other cloud storage solution (and quite frankly ought to work on normal accounts too, even if requiring an online account specifically for OD). Updating the OS evidently works without an online account. Can't currently think of another reason for it.
So I'd get one optional feature, and in return less privacy.
You realize that PC stands for "Personal Computer", right? As in MY computer. My property. I should be free to use a local account without issue. I should be free to value my privacy.
This is why Linux is growing faster than ever. It actually understands what personal computing is.
Normal users don't need a cloud account. The fact that windows has run on local accounts for forty fckn years is evidence of this.
You don't need to use an Apple account with Mac computers, and it doesn't even try very hard to convince you to either
But most of the features you're paying for won't work.
Not really sure what this means. I'm not really aware of anything I'm missing out on. If you don't want to use their cloud storage (which you have to pay extra for) there's no need to have an apple account. All the apps I use work fine locally
Google and Apple don't force us, though they try hard, so many are still not ok with that.
It's the tracking vs utility conundrum. At the start people kind of knew that Google was gathering their information in return for free services like Gmail etc. And those services were useful/didn't show significant drawbacks etc.
But with Microsoft (who historically have allowed local accounts since the start and have comparatively only recently required or pushed for a linked account), the detriments are evident to people who use their computers for more than just surfing the web and watching Netflix or Tik Tok. It rubs them the wrong way when they have to connect a computer to the Internet to even set it up.
Some people don't live in a place where internet is a standard. Others don't necessarily want to set up a computer for themselves but for their small business or their aging grandma or for their kid (who can't legally sign up for anything but a child's account and that's significantly locked down in ways that maybe the adult doesn't want to deal with).
Some people work in fields where they have a different threat model and don't want Microsoft or other companies siphoning up their private data. Some of them are still forced to use Microsoft products because of work etc.
The thing is though, people should have the choice when they are buying a product that will belong to them about what that product does and how it functions. And the vast majority of people who do want that choice are against this measure and measures like it.
On iOS, apple barely shoves their bloatware down your throat. Their methodology is the opposite actually. Simplistic and debloated, for the most part. Google doesnt force you into anything either. There are alternative software that you can use.
With windows the only alternative is Linux, but a small fraction of people know about let alone use Linux so thats not really in the conversation.
Windows wants to force you to make an account/log in with one which cant be done offline unless you do some commandline workarounds in win11. The issue is, this is a PC. Not an iPhone. Not a Samsung. It is your own dedicated hardware that you should be able to use as you please without being forced into an online-only system that forces copilot down your throat.
Your pc isnt “a Microsoft computer”, its a computer that happens to run an operating system made by Microsoft.
iOS IS the bloatware.
so is Windows
This guy just wants attention.
I think so too. I just checked his profile, and it's riddled with overly controversial opinions, to ridiculous extents.
Thanks to your comment, I realized I could tag users on Lemmy, and make stupid people visible like on the old RES.
No.
I don't think it's everyone being ok, more like everyone complying because sometimes you have to.
I have several Android devices that work without signing into any account. I get my apps from F-Droid and some apks extracted from my phone that does have a Google account.
Samsungs are annoying, with their regular nagging, begging you to also make a Samsung account. I would never buy one but I'm on-call with a work-owned Samsung and there's one notification that can't be disabled. It goes off every once in a while and makes me think I have a service call.
Windows, eh, I switched to Linux long ago, but there's always alphabet soup edition (IoT LTSC) that is far less bloated.