Personal PC: Microsoft Account yes or no?

Hi,

i have a question regarding Windows 11 and Microsoft Account.

I use a personal laptop that i use for work and to play some videogame and now i need to reinstall my OS and i decide to upgrade to 11.

I never used a Microsoft Account because i don't need it and i don't see advantages.

What do you think... today is ok to use MS Account or i can continue without it?

Pro and Cons?

Thanks

You can continue without an MSAccount as your user account or you start using one.
It's entirely up to you.

The explanations in these tutorials might help you decide.

• If you need the facilities described then use an MSAccount-linked user account on your computer.
• If you don't need them then don't bother.

Switch to Microsoft Account from Local Account - ElevenForumTutorials
Switch from Microsoft Account to Local Account - ElevenForumTutorials

The Clean install tutorial explains how to set up whichever type you choose.
Clean Install Windows 11 - ElevenForumTutorials


All the best,
Denis

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Unless one is a big onedrive user, I am a strong proponent of using a local account. Just my opinion, but I'm a control freak. Others may disagree. If you clean install Windows 11 with a MS account, your desktop, documents, and pictures folders' location will default to onedrive rather than on your system drive in your user account folder. However, these can be moved after install if you choose to go with a MS account.

It is possible to retain a local account for signing in to the PC but still get the benefits of a microsoft account, such as onedrive.

I don't really understand the issue with MS account. I never had a single problem with it and I never use One Drive. I just disable it from startup.
Anything that bothers me during boot up, I just disable them from startup.

Why chain yourself to a huge Corporation bent on World Domination, if you don't absolutely have to?
Just look at what Bill Gates is doing today, and Microsoft isn't too far away.

I'll run Windows, but not from Microsoft, and my association stops there.
NO MS Account, NO Clouds, No Licenses, No keys, No BS!

Excuse me, but my mortician is calling.

TM

TechnoMage2021 said:

Why chain yourself to a huge Corporation bent on World Domination, if you don't absolutely have to?
Just look at what Bill Gates is doing today, and Microsoft isn't too far away.

I'll run Windows, but not from Microsoft, and my association stops there.
NO MS Account, NO Clouds, No Licenses, No keys, No BS!

Excuse me, but my mortician is calling.

TM

Click to expand...

What Is doing Bill Gates?

TechnoMage2021 said:

Why chain yourself to a huge Corporation bent on World Domination,

Click to expand...

That's a rather excessive interpretation. MS is in the software business. No more, no less. When one is in business, it's to make money, and the way to do that is to dominate the market for whatever product one creates. Whether one uses a MS account or not, we indeed are "chained" to MS when we choose to use MS products. For now, at least, we can still choose to use a local account even though Home users have to work around to do it. There may come a time this door won't be open to us any more. If one wants more options, one should purchase Pro from the get-go.

No one has a gun to our head making us use the OS as we do have other choices. Whereas, Apple products lock their OS to their hardware and folks are FORCED to have an Apple account and FORCED to use ios. We (I'm one of we)all bitch and gripe when MS changes something we don't like, but MOST times we can change it. Try doing that with IOS and see how far you get.

@ProgettoPrisma As far as what's fact, @Try3 is 100% correct. It boils down to your choice, how you use your computer, and what MS services you avail to use.

ProgettoPrisma said:

What do you think... today is ok to use MS Account or i can continue without it?

Click to expand...

The biggest problem users have with MS account is privacy concerns.

There are many positive benefits for using MS account such as:

• having access to your history which improves your search results
• One account to rule all your store purchases (similar to steam)
• One drive (purchased not free) because it allows you to store huge amounts of files for a price that is almost equivalent to buying a disk, and you run no risk of disk failure.

however all these features are potential hit to privacy and that's the only issue with MS account.
Also if you lose access to your MS account you lose everything, if your MS account get's hacked it's even worse.
Therefore if you're going to use these features you'll need to keep your MS safe the same way you keep your eyes safe from harm.

I always have been using local accounts, which MS made more difficult, especially in Win11 (home).
Reason for that is that I don't want MS to have any of my data stored. So I don't use OneDrive as well.
The biggest problem I now and then meet, not having a MS account, is that more and more apps are offered via the MS-store, which you can't install over a local account.

I know that there is a way around for that and I sometimes use it that way, but it's quite a complicated way around.

Most software I use on my PC is open-source from other makers, but they too tend to make their packages available via MS-store. Until now I have always been able to find a way around to get the apps I want via other channels and the apps I installed testwise (on a VirtualBox Win11 system) from the store (via the way around) mostly appear to be useless for me and I find other apps that are better (or I decide not to use such an app at all).

An example of an app that is available in MS-store as well as on Github is ElevenClock.

But on the long term I think I will be forced to take a MS account...

I've had an MS account for a long time and never had an issue with it.

Kees said:

more and more apps are offered via the MS-store, which you can't install over a local account.

Click to expand...

Yes, you can.
I do it without any problems.
Just go to the Store in your browser then search around to find the thing you want & click on Get in-store app.

Get updates for apps and games in Microsoft Store - ElevenForumTutorials


Denis

Kees said:

But on the long term I think I will be forced to take a MS account...

Click to expand...

I always wonder why people talk about it as if it is something unpleasent, it is just another account, you do not have to use real information, unless you plan to buy. You were also forced to create an account to post on this forum. You can treat MSA the same way as any other useless account, you do not have to use it for Windows, just for store. It is not all or nothing, you have options in-between.

TairikuOkami said:

I always wonder why people talk about it as if it is something unpleasent, it is just another account, you do not have to use real information, unless you plan to buy. You were also forced to create an account to post on this forum. You can treat MSA the same way as any other useless account, you do not have to use it for Windows, just for store. It is not all or nothing, you have options in-between.

Click to expand...

My Microsoft Account allows me to subscribe to Microsoft 365. This gives me all of Microsoft Office, always up to date, and includes a Terabyte of Cloud OneDrive! All for a paltry $69/yr! An incredible bargain! I love it!

TairikuOkami said:

I always wonder why people talk about it as if it is something unpleasent...

Click to expand...

With a MS-account I allow that firm to have the possibility to use some (or all of) my personal data.
And that I simply don's want, as I cannot check what they exactly will use or not.
Of course they are able to do that now as well, but I will not have any personal (mail-) account coupled to it.
So it will be rather unpersonal, as I always protect all personal files with a password!

That completely different from having some account on a Internet forum, where I only have a username and mailadress.

Kees said:

With a MS-account I allow that firm to have the possibility to use some (or all of) my personal data.

Click to expand...

That is incorrect, MS already has access to your data, you have allowed them to use it as per TOS.
But when you have MSA, you have control over it, you can see it and even remove it, like with Google.

Try3 said:

Yes, you can.
I do it without any problems.

Click to expand...

That's, as far as I have checked, only for updating, not for installing app's which are not yet installed.

TairikuOkami said:

That is incorrect, MS already has access to your data, but when you have MSA, you have control over it.

Click to expand...

May be you are right, but my choice is not to use a MS account as long as possible.

The only thing I wanted to point at, was the 'problem' not being able to install apps directly from the MS-store, when you do not have a MS-account.

I would like not to do any further argues over the reason why my choice is a local account.
You can't change the feeling I have over that, not with all argues you mention!

Kees said:

That's, as far as I have checked, only for updating, not for installing app's which are not yet installed.

Click to expand...

You can install apps in MS store without MS account, there are only few rare apps which require you to log-in to MS store.

The only purpose of MS account in store is to purchase apps (those which are not free), but free ones you can install without log-in.

zebal said:

You can install apps in MS store without MS account, there are only few rare apps which require you to log-in to MS store.

The only purpose of MS account in store is to purchase apps (those which are not free), but free ones you can install without log-in.

Click to expand...

For me there's another important benefit for purchasing through the Microsoft Store. All of my MS Store purchased apps are automatically kept up to date.