Why is Elon Musk Not “Happy” with Microsoft’s New Windows 11? Alternative

Why is Elon Musk not “Happy” with Microsoft’s New Windows 11? Alternative

The issue arose when Musk purchased a new laptop with Windows 11 pre-installed. During the initial setup, he was prompted to sign in with or create a free Microsoft account.

This linking of a user account is now mandatory in the latest Windows 11 out-of-box experience for consumer devices. Microsoft began testing it with Windows Insiders in early 2022 before expanding it more broadly.

Talking about Microsoft wants to make Windows security stronger and bring more features like – Windows 11 24H2 Secret “Speak for Me” and many AI features.

Previously, Windows 11 allowed skipping account creation to use the device with a local offline profile instead. But Microsoft removed this workaround to push universal adoption of Microsoft accounts.

Just bought a new PC laptop and it won’t let me use it unless I create a Microsoft account, which also means giving their AI access to my computer! This is messed up.

There used to be an option to skip signing into or creating a Microsoft account.

Are you seeing this too?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 25, 2024

Musk and other critics take issue with mandatory online accounts. They disapprove of Microsoft collecting usage data and controlling user access to the device. Some also fear the company could leverage account requirements anti-competitively against rival operating systems.

This is not cool of Microsoft

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 25, 2024

What’s an Alternative to Installing without a Microsoft Account Login

However, there are still alternatives for installing Windows 11 without a Microsoft account:

1. Purchase a computer with Windows 10 or earlier pre-installed, then upgrade it for free to Windows 11. The account requirement only applies to new Windows 11 devices.
2. Perform a clean install of Windows 11 using installation media and decline the account login prompt. This bypass may depend on the specific hardware.
3. Use third-party tools like Rufus, Ventoy, or WinToUSB to create account-free installation media for Windows 11.
4. Purchase directly from retailers with ‘Signature Edition‘ PCs having Windows 11 pre-installed without Microsoft accounts.

So while Microsoft pushes online accounts as the default, technical workarounds still exist for those like Elon Musk who highly value privacy and offline usage. The options above enable installing the latest Windows minus cloud services integration.

However, account-free environments do lose access to certain features like synchronized settings. Ultimately users must decide whether to embrace Microsoft accounts or utilize alternatives supporting local-only use. If you have any queries related to this, please leave them in the comment section!