"If the older people won't change to our accounts, we'll capture the next generation." The minecraft acquisition was a great business move for them.

Also Microsoft stores the escrow keys for disk encryption and login on their servers when you use a Microsoft Account, and will happily hand it to the government on request.

I can't express how much the MS account thing totally ruined me from ever using or buying MS products again. Trying to make a PC have an account for my kids to play MS flight simulator was pure insanity. Never again MS.

Oh the pains of Minecraft administration! I could write a book about cross platform incompatibility, Microsoft account dysfunction, billing issues, and upgrade blocking execution. We’ve spent $100s and it does nothing but get worse.

To clarify mcv's last statement... if you have taken the time to create local user accounts because who is using your computer is none of Microsoft's business, and then you make the mistake of buying Minecraft and logging in to it, Minecraft will automatically and irrevocably tie that Windows user account to the Microsoft account used to log in Minecraft.

I now have n+1 accounts on my Windows system because I had the kid who did that leave that account just to use Minecraft and created a new account for everything else.

I'm pretty close to going to Linux on this system. It was the house game system but I just got a Steam Deck, which is fulfilling that role nicely, and that leaves Windows hanging on only by a thread of my personal laziness/business (depending on how charitable you are); everything else that system does is either equally doable by Linux or better done by Linux.

> I'm pretty close to going to Linux on this system

Well, I'm one step ahead of you. As of last weekend, I purchased and returned 3 games due to unplayability on Windows 10 (yes, patched, all drivers updated, msconfig nothing running, ran exclusive/un-bordered/windowed, every recommended change and sfc checks ok), and they all crashed regularly at irregular intervals.

I've partitioned the SSD and have installed Ubuntu. Now to learn how to use Proton to make games work.

That was my last Windows machine. Goodbye Microsoft.

edit: Just to add...I'm the most technical of my group of friends and typically lead the way. If this works, I'll have 5 other guys migrating in the next 12 months with me, they too have been complaining since leaving Windows 7.

If you're set on going with Proton I can recommend 3 resources: ProtonDB, GloriousEggroll's custom Proton, and of course good old GamingOnLinux.

I tried setting up Minecraft the first time on my kids ipads and the whole Xbox/Live account thing literally made me angry. I am technically competent and I couldn't figure that shit out for hours.