610
Microsoft's Windows 11 push backfired, so it's quietly keeping Windows 10 alive for another year
(www.xda-developers.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Windows 11 can be wrangled into something decent, but it requires an immense amount of wrangling on initial install to do so.
As an example, XP needed 8-12hrs worth of work before I was happy with the way I had it configured. Win11 needs about 32-48hrs of work and testing. Some bits - like violently bludgeoning File Explorer back into a halfway XP-like folder tree - takes deep, repeated dives into the registry to properly and permanently eviscerate things like the Library and Home (quick access).
Is there a way to not require a Microsoft account? That's why I haven't upgraded.
Yes,
It will reboot and bring you back to that same initial setup but when you get to the account page you will have an option for "I don't have internet" which then will allow you to create a local account.
They were going to remove this but haven't yet, at least the last time I setup a VM for some windows only software about a month ago.
Edit: This was a fresh install, not a 10->11 upgrade. I haven't tried that way so I can't confirm if it works on a keep everything upgrade.
RUFUS is a lot simpler.
And upgrades keep all settings, including local accounts. They always have.
Build your USB installer using RUFUS.
The SELECT drop-down (the down arrow itself, not the entire button) even downloads a generic multi-version of the latest Win11.
It’s at the last step before creating the installer when RUFUS gives you a bunch of settings that you can leverage, one of which is a Microsoft Account bypass so you can create a local account.