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Upcoming Windows 11 builds cannot install without internet and Microsoft Account

(infosec.exchange)
268 points tech234a | 5 comments | 29 Mar 25 04:13 UTC | HN request time: 0.677s | source
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samiv ◴[29 Mar 25 07:00 UTC] No.43513408[source]▶
I'm also 100% convinced Microsoft will introduce mandatory code signing at some point and make it so that you can only ever install software from Windows Store.

They are envious of the Google and Apple walled gardens/cashcows and are now determined to turn Windows into one.

Windows is no longer a product for users, the users of Windows are the product for Microsoft to be shoved into the Azure sales funnel.

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1. facile3232 ◴[29 Mar 25 08:27 UTC] No.43513801[source]▶
> They are envious of the Google and Apple walled gardens/cashcows and are now determined to turn Windows into one.

Which is perplexing, because this is essentially the opposite strategy than what gave windows value to begin with.

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2. tonyedgecombe ◴[29 Mar 25 08:59 UTC] No.43513940[source]▶
It would be amusing for Microsoft to end up in a situation where developers don’t want to target Windows anymore, just like Apple in the 90’s.

Perhaps they think it doesn’t matter once everything is in the cloud.

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3. debugnik ◴[29 Mar 25 09:30 UTC] No.43514067[source]▶
We're most of the way there with the switch to web apps and their native wrappers, even Microsoft isn't using their own UI toolkits anymore.

The only segments left targeting Windows as a platform are games, replacements/extensions to the OS tools, and a bunch of legacy .NET LOB apps. And since the Steam Deck and clones, Wine/Proton are (very) slowly becoming the actual target for games rather than Windows.

4. heresie-dabord ◴[29 Mar 25 10:10 UTC] No.43514240[source]▶
> Which is perplexing, because this is essentially the opposite strategy than what gave windows value to begin with.

Consider how much has changed since the first 25 years of MSFT. Both in business and in life in general.

5. extraduder_ire ◴[29 Mar 25 14:51 UTC] No.43516017[source]▶
I think that long before that developers will still be targeting the windows APIs, even if they're not intending their software for windows.