windows 11 oobe

Microsoft has quietly started to close the doors on the clever little tricks that let enthusiasts, refurbishers and privacy‑minded users finish Windows 11 setup without an internet connection or a Microsoft account, and the result is simple: on the default consumer path, Windows 11 installation...

Microsoft’s latest Insider changes have closed the last easy doors that let people set up Windows 11 without an online account: the one‑line trick many used at OOBE (start ms-cxh:localonly) is now neutralized, and the older oobe\bypassnro mechanism has been removed from current preview builds...

Microsoft’s latest Insider Preview changes effectively remove the simple, in‑OOBE shortcuts that let enthusiasts and refurbishers create a local account during Windows 11 setup, forcing the default consumer path to complete with an internet connection and an online Microsoft identity in current...

Microsoft has quietly and deliberately closed the last widely used in‑OOBE shortcuts that let enthusiasts, refurbishers, and privacy‑minded users finish Windows 11 setup with a purely local account — Insider preview builds now require an internet connection and a Microsoft Account on the default...

Microsoft has quietly tightened the screws on Windows 11’s Out‑Of‑Box Experience (OOBE): Insider Preview updates issued October 6 remove the remaining local-only setup shortcuts and now require an internet connection and a Microsoft account to complete consumer OOBE flows, even on editions that...

Microsoft has quietly closed more of the shortcuts that let people set up Windows 11 with a local account, turning the Out‑of‑Box Experience (OOBE) into an account‑first flow that — at least for now — requires an internet connection and a Microsoft account to complete setup. Background...

Microsoft has quietly moved another step toward an account-first Out‑of‑Box Experience (OOBE) for Windows 11 by removing several low-friction workarounds that let people create a local account during setup, effectively forcing an internet connection and a Microsoft Account (MSA) on the default...

Zorin OS 18 Beta arrives as a clear, user-focused attempt to make switching from Windows to Linux less painful — and after a thorough hands‑on with the beta, it’s easy to see why this release may be the project’s most convincing offering yet. The desktop looks and behaves more polished, cloud...

Microsoft’s latest Insider flight quietly concedes one of the most persistent first‑run annoyances — the opaque, email‑derived C:\Users\<name> folder — but the fix is buried behind a command‑line detour in OOBE that will please enthusiasts while frustrating the average consumer. Background...