> I use multiple non-admin profiles for different activities

Well, shit me.

I've not used Windows since 8 came out. However, I would have loved to have had that workflow for a multiple desktop type thing.

Why didn't I think of that 20 years ago?

(for a long time, windows has internally supported multiple desktops, but it's not quite the same)

I do the same thing on Linux. I have multiple different users I use for various purposes. One for Work, Personal, Side Business, and an emergency "break glass" user.

I install most applications in my home XDG directory if possible. It helps me have pure separation between work and home life. If I'm on my personal user, I do not have access to work tools, etc.

If you're already going to these lengths to compartmentalize, you might as well just run Qubes. It's really not much more mental overhead.

Plus you get nice features like different color window borders for applications running in different profiles, properly permissioned inter-profile RPC, virtualized networking ('personal' gets networking from clearnet 'sys-firewall', 'work' gets networking from 'work-vpn', 'project1' gets networking over Tor from 'sys-whonix', etc.), and much, much more.

Highly recommended way to use any flavor of windows going back to way back when - give your admin account a long fancy password and then just rarely logon as that account. Your daily driver is an account with normal priviliges. Also good for Grandma so she can't install a bunch of spyware

Good until your Grandma calls you because some software require the admin password.

Or not worry about Granada at all

Windows now exposes the multiple desktops feature in the shell.

You can still create local accounts - it sounds like it is just during initial setup they require a Microsoft account and internet access.

That's interesting and seems like an easy work-around. Just create the first account with a Microsoft account, and then create your real account afterwards as a local account. Then delete the first account you created and you have no more links to the Microsoft account. Seems too easy.

Theres an assumption here the deleting the online account will not cause any other issues. Id like to think it is so, but it hasn't been so easy at all times in the past.

If they’re linking the pro license with the logged in Microsoft account, it may be difficult to remove it or one may need to provide a different Microsoft account with a valid digital Pro license.

True, but in time it will escalate more, just as this escalation builds on the ones that came before it.

Just because a trap closes slowly doesn't mean it isn't a trap.