Paradox of Microsoft's new image is that software development & tools has never been better as it is today, but the desktop experience is one of the worst in Windows history, the opposite of the old days. Seems that you can't have them both.

Yea I love this brave new world where frontend development feels like ASP.NET. Love me some TypeScript, shipping features quickly was getting old. Say it with me now, noImplicitAny! We're Engineers now, thanks Microsoft.

Last time I tried (4 months ago) you still could create a local account while connected to the internet.

They're making it more obscure, though

Just did so successfully two weeks ago, Win10 Pro on T480s, Version 2004 or 20H2, can't remember. The latest of what the Media Creation Tool gave me, anyway. Others said Win10 Home does not work anymore.

Ironically, I installed Win10 coming from Manjaro, which even on a T480s (probably one of the laptops to have for Linux compatibility) broke after every other update, so like twice a day. On the other hand, Debian/Ubuntu has been too far behind on software versions for me. Both had terrible compatibility with my Thunderbolt 3 dock. Hopefully in the future, we will meet again!

Until then, it is ridiculous how much more Win10 Just Works.

I'm surprised you didn't try one of the more mainstream stable-but-current distros, like Fedora or openSUSE.

Perhaps they didn’t try due to the difference in package management?

Fedora/openSuSE are RPM-based distros while Ubuntu uses Debian packages.

For Win 10 Home, the only way is to create a temporary Microsoft-connected account to install, then create a local account after installing, then delete the first account.

"Not to mention making it impossible to create a local user account on Windows 10, unless you disconnect from the internet." This is false. I've done this a couple of times recently on Windows 10 and it's no problem at all - just requires clicking a link on the create user account page. In fact, I always prefer to create a local account first and then tie my MS account to it afterwards.

> impossible to create a local user account on Windows 10, unless you disconnect from the internet

This isn't at all true. Accounts > Family & other users > Add someone else to this PC. Took me 20 seconds to find this setting.

I've created local users several times. It's not super clear I agree, but definitely doable in the last month or so.

It's not impossible to create a local account without disconnecting from the Internet.

Since Windows 10 1903 it's impossible, at least in the Home version.

https://www.howtogeek.com/442609/confirmed-windows-10-setup-...

Microsoft should really improve their unattended process. This is where Linux really outshines Windows. I can configure a Linux installer with all my favorite software integrated, user accounts, configurations, etc—but with Windows I essentially have to install Windows, install my apps (leaving tons of randomly scattered files and registry entries all over the system), and then sysprep the WIM.

The unattended setup on Windows is very confusing, there are like 3 different ways and 6 steps to configure, and the tools are mostly designed with GUI in mind. Could you imagine being able to configure, install drivers and apps using a single YAML file for Windows?

I when’s through creating and deploying a Windows image last year. It’s a really painful and convoluted process and the tools don’t help much.

I think most of the more serious ones require an Active Directory setup, which kind of reflects their traditional focus on enterprise users.

Can confirm; recently configured a Surface tablet for family, and no workarounds were possible.