provisioning

Windows 11 can still be installed and configured without signing into a Microsoft account, but the safe, reliable ways to do it have narrowed: simple in‑OOBE tricks that worked a year ago are being removed by Microsoft, and the community now relies on a short list of approaches — disconnecting...

Microsoft’s latest Windows Insider Dev build tightens the Out‑of‑Box Experience (OOBE) by explicitly removing the small, widely used command‑line tricks that let people create a local (offline) account during first‑boot setup — a change that signals Microsoft’s move toward an account‑first...

Signing out of a school or work account on Windows 11 is deceptively simple, but the choice between “signing out,” “removing,” or “switching to a local account” has real consequences for synced settings, OneDrive files, BitLocker recovery, and corporate device management — this guide explains...

Microsoft’s latest Insider update tightens the screws on Windows 11 setup by removing the easiest ways to create a local account during OOBE (Out‑Of‑Box Experience), but the story is more complicated than a single patch: determined users and imaging tools still have options, and the move exposes...

Microsoft has quietly tightened the screws on Windows 11 setup: recent Insider Preview builds explicitly disable the familiar command-line and OOBE tricks that let users create a local account during first-run setup, pushing consumer installs back onto an account‑first, online path. Background...

Microsoft has quietly posted official Windows 11 ISO images for Insiders, giving testers, OEMs, and IT teams the first gated chance to perform clean installs and full out‑of‑box experience (OOBE) validation for the upcoming Windows 11 feature update — the 25H2 Release Preview build family (Build...

Microsoft has quietly completed the last public validation step for Windows 11 version 25H2 by publishing official ISO installation media to Windows Insiders in the Release Preview channel, a move that puts clean-install and imaging workflows back into IT teams’ hands ahead of a likely October...

Microsoft has made Windows 11’s annual refresh—version 25H2—available as official ISO media to Windows Insiders in the Release Preview channel, completing the packaging that IT teams, OEMs and advanced users need for clean installs and image-based testing even as the bulk rollout continues to be...

Microsoft quietly pulled back the promised ISO images for Windows 11, version 25H2 this week, updating its Release Preview announcement to say the ISOs are “delayed and coming soon” even as the update itself lands in the Release Preview channel as an enablement-package style release. Background...

Flyoobe’s newest release lands with an unapologetic promise: install Windows 11 on machines Microsoft won’t officially support, and do it while stripping out unwanted AI surfaces like Copilot right from the Out‑of‑Box Experience (OOBE). Background / Overview Flyoobe evolved from a small...

Infobip’s integration into Microsoft’s new Messaging Connect program significantly expands Azure Communication Services’ (ACS) global SMS footprint, making two‑way SMS available in more than 100 additional countries while preserving the native Azure developer experience and observability model...

WinGet has quietly become one of the most practical productivity tools in a Windows 11 power user's toolbox — not just for installing apps, but for managing whole system states, enforcing upgrade policies, and automating maintenance. A recent MakeUseOf piece showed four simple WinGet workflows —...

Microsoft has pushed Windows 11, version 25H2 into the Release Preview channel while publicly denying any link between August’s cumulative updates and a rash of user-reported SSD failures — a week that illustrated both Microsoft’s increasingly disciplined servicing model and the fragility of...

Windows 11’s next annual feature update is now moving from staged preview into its final validation ring: Microsoft has made Windows 11, version 25H2 available to Release Preview Insiders and commercial customers for targeted testing, delivered as an enablement package on top of the 24H2...

The Web3 infrastructure story that has been quietly brewing for years reached a new inflection point this cycle: large cloud providers are no longer passive hosts for blockchain experiments — they are active strategic partners, builders, and gatekeepers whose technical choices and compliance...

Microsoft released KB5065848 on August 29, 2025 — a targeted Out‑of‑Box Experience (OOBE) update for Windows 11, version 24H2 and Windows Server 2025 — that changes how device provisioning and enrollment behave during first‑time setup and supplies updated management/enrollment components used...

Microsoft is removing the built‑in Mobile Plans app from Windows and replacing the in‑app storefront with a web‑first flow that uses carrier websites plus the native Settings eSIM provisioning experience, a change that will affect how always‑connected PCs buy and manage cellular data...

Microsoft will retire the long-underused Mobile Plans app from Windows and move plan purchases and eSIM provisioning to carrier websites and the built‑in Windows Settings experience, with the in‑OS app scheduled to stop functioning on February 27, 2026; installed cellular profiles will continue...

Microsoft is moving routine Windows 11 quality updates into the initial setup flow so that eligible Entra-joined devices can download and install the latest cumulative fixes during the Out‑of‑Box Experience (OOBE), making day‑one systems more secure—and forcing IT teams to rethink provisioning...

Microsoft has confirmed it will retire the built‑in Mobile Plans app in Windows 11 and shift plan purchase and eSIM provisioning workflows to carrier web portals and the native Windows Settings experience, a change that will simplify Microsoft’s footprint but introduce migration work for users...