Re:Windows 8.1 now available
by optimiz3 on Thursday October 17, 2013 @10:16AM
(#6565463)
Microsoft REALLY wants you use a Microsoft account over a Local account. The link to chose a Local account during install is gone. It only shows up if you get the Microsoft account login wrong, and there is no indication that a Local account is even possible until this happens.
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Re:Windows 8.1 now available
by ratscabies on Thursday October 17, 2013 @11:36AM
(#6566053)
Tinfoil hat here. Isn't using a Microsoft account just like giving the NSA your credentials to your machine?
Re:Windows 8.1 now available
by CurtHagenlocher on Thursday October 17, 2013 @12:19PM
(#6566348)
We may never know for certain. But it would be weird if a backdoor in Windows could be disabled in such an easy fashion. It's not like the rest of the OS is fully transparent. I think a better analogy is probably using a Google account to log into a Chromebook. In both cases, you can look at the network traffic to see exactly the extent to which your computer is reporting on you.
Disclaimer: I work for Microsoft. Also, you can't imagine how confusing the term "Microsoft account" is for those of us who work here. That's why I still think of it as a "Windows Live account".
Pretty much, a Microsoft account is a one-way trust relationship between your machine and Microsoft.
It's there like it was in Windows 8 if you don't have Internet access during install time.
No, it was always there in Windows 8. It's not always there in 8.1.