> you have to submit a bad email/password combo 3 times before it gives in and lets you setup a local account.

Ike. That's horrible. Who in the world thought that hiding a standard user account would be a good idea?

Someone who will retire in 12 months.

That's a lie. It doesn't do that.

I just installed it about 5 minutes ago. On the "setup your account" screen, there is no option for a local account. You must login or create a new account. Now, once you go to create a new account, there's a low-contrast option at the bottom to skip this step.

I think I'm fairly computer savvy, but had I not searched on how to bypass this, I probably would have set up an MS account. For "normal" people, I'd say this will be extremely effective at increasing their "conversion" to Microsoft Accounts.

It's extremely hostile.

This is only true of the public beta. It bothered me as well when I tried it out, but after a few searches I found that the RTM will still have local accounts. I assume the decision was made to keep in contact with the beta testers or something, but my hotmail account is a glorified spam catcher at this point, so I've never bothered to check.

[1] http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-8-1-Preview-Won-t-Sup... (This isn't the article I read back then, but it's the first thing I found when I just searched.)

I just installed using the MSDN "RTM" version, not the preview. The option is there, it's just intentionally hidden, and the first page gives zero indication it's possible to use a local account. You have to start the MS Account creation step, then at the bottom of the screen you'll see the option to skip.

Not true. Total FUD.

you click create account, then select local account at the bottom.

Enterprise edition also doesn't prompt for a Microsoft account.

>you click create account, then select local account at the bottom.

Sounds like something Douglas Adams wrote. It is not _total_ FUD, it's confusing, and it's obvious Microsoft wants to hide that option and force most users into using an MS Account.

Edit: Oh, then if you create a new account, again, way at the bottom, in low-contrast text, is "Sign in without a Microsoft account (not recommended)". Clicking that takes you to a screen full of text, telling you how MS accounts are better. The default selection on that page is "Microsoft account". You must again click Local account to actually continue.

I installed the RTM x64 Pro version in a VM a few days ago and it did not have an option for local account. I had to Google around to find out how to bypass it. After installation, when you create additional accounts, it does give you the option to use local.

Just disconnect internet during installation.

(and under most cases during installing an OS, the internet is not avaliable)

You're right that this is a good option for people who care, but most won't bother. Windows 8.1 will have most drivers for ethernet and wireless cards which means that the majority of people will be connecting to the Internet before creating a user account. This is a very good strategy for Microsoft to maximize the number of Windows installations connected to their online services. A marketing or sales person would spin this around and say that it's good for users because they'll get to experience Windows connected to the cloud without having to jump through any hoops after installation.

It gives you the option to create a local account on installation regardless. You have to follow my instructions which were discovered in about 20 seconds.

I've done this on two network connected physical machines and a VM.

Like i said this is all FUD from emotional people who just want upvotes for shitting on Microsoft for not noticing the damn option.

For reference, it's documented as well.

True. I did it twice on two different installs in the last few days for 8.1 Pro RTM - upgrading from 8.0 which had local account. Both times I looked very hard to create a local account.

Here is a blog describing how to get around it for preview but he describes exactly my experience for RTM. http://www.infobyte.hr/blog/337/windows-8-1-preview-how-to-i...

note: I'm talking about the install process. not in the OS UI after install.

oh i see what you are saying - you create account at the spot where they are asking you to logon. I never clicked that as I have several accounts. Still it is very hostile UI as is pointed out. I'm not making up fud and if you look at my profile I'm no karma whore.

That small print to use a local account from 8.0 was moved one extra click away to the page you get on when you click on the button to register a new Microsoft Account in 8.1.

So it's still there but you have to really look for it.

Still sounds like Microsoft using Dark Patterns on their paying customers.

> free big data for onselling to marketers.

What user data has microsoft ever sold to anyone? Maybe they have.. I just dont recall any specific instance which didn't turn out to be clickbait FUD.

Not big data in a personally identifiable sense - but big data in aggregated advertising market data:

At install, all options on this screen were defaulted to on http://imgur.com/RP4UNhG Note the "Let apps use my Advertising ID for experiences across apps" option. Also let apps access "other account info"...what info is that?

Windows 8.1 Smart Search now renders Bing ads into the search results - so ads brought onto your desktop - not just in the browser experience http://www.pcworld.com/article/2043518/windows-8-1-smart-sea...

some snippets I found in the T&C's linked from Windows 8.1 RTM (even the the document still says preview)

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/windows-8-1-pri...

Windows Search also sends an identifier to provide personalized search results based on your interactions withBing and other Microsoft products and services.

If you sign in to Windows with aMicrosoft account, the identifier will be associated with your Microsoft account.

If you allow Windows Search to use your location, the physical location of your device as provided by the Windows Location Platform will be sent to Microsoft as a part of each search request. Alternatively, we may attempt to derive your approximate physical location based on your IP address.

If you choose to use Windows Search to get web search results, we use the search term you have provided, your local and online search history, information associated with yourMicrosoft account, and the location of your device to provide relevant search suggestions, personalized search results, and personalized experiences in other Microsoft products and services

You can also clear your search history and turn off personalized search results for WindowsSearch in Search in Search & apps in PC settings. This clears your local search history and instructs Microsoft not to use any previously collected search history stored byBing that’s used to personalize your WindowsSearch experience. It does not delete information that is used by Microsoft in aggregate to improve search results and otherMicrosoft experiences. That information is retained and anonymized

chrome OS is the best modern next generation OS - it forces u to login with a google account and it provides all the benefit because of that (sync of data/setting seemless setup/better prediction using google now etc..)....Windows 8 how dare you ask u to login with a account that can provide you the same sync capabilities and benefits.. we want you remove it so we can bash you for not keeping up with modern cloud capabilities and chaining us to old WinXP way of not providing all these functionalities that a modern OS should provide... </s>

There's a reason a lot of people haven't bought ChromeOS devices. Further, there's a reason that many who have then installed Linux.

Totally irrelevant. Windows isn't a cloud OS and the behavior is changed. And, it's much more likely that people want a local account.