Windows 10 is slightly less pushy about requiring Microsoft accounts

In Windows 8, users were strongly encouraged to use a Microsoft account to sign in to their computers. For those of us who preferred local accounts, the option to ‘sign in without a Microsoft account’ was presented in faint text at the bottom of the screen.

Screenshot of Windows 8 Sign In Screen

In Windows 8.1, the option to use a local account for a fresh installation appeared to be missing entirely. Only entering a bad username/password combination or disabling internet access would allow one to create a local account.

Screenshot of Windows 8.1 Sign In Screen

As of build 10125 of Windows 10 there is once again an easy way to create a local account – an option to ‘skip this step’ is available. This is a small but very welcome change and I hope it survives to RTM.

Screenshot of Windows 10 Sign In Screen

In related news, the OneDrive desktop client in Windows 10 no longer requires that the user be logged in with a Microsoft account (of course, one must still sign in to OneDrive separately with a Microsoft account).


Posted

in

by

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *