Microsoft clearly doesn’t like its customers using Windows with a local account. An upcoming Windows 10 update will introduce new incentives to switch to an online account, which won’t be to everyone’s taste.
It’s no secret that Microsoft has long sought to push Windows users towards an online account (a Microsoft account) rather than a local account (an “old-fashioned” account, totally disconnected from the Internet). . To do this, the Redmond firm gradually made using Windows with a local account more and more difficult, forcing users to use tricks and devious means to use their PC without having to log in to a Microsoft account. (see our articles here and here). Microsoft is obviously neither the first company nor the most rigid in this area, Apple has been requiring the use of an iCloud account on its computers for years, without offering any alternative and without this raising any criticism from his clients.
Creating and using a Microsoft online account to connect to Windows, instead of a local account, of course has advantages, such as the ability to save your files online via OneDrive, synchronize your data between several devices and automatically recover its configuration and applications when purchasing a new computer, for example. But using a Microsoft account also involves transmitting a lot of personal data to the company, which already collects a lot by default with Windows, which is not to everyone’s taste. Using a local account limits, at least a little, Microsoft’s curiosity and remains to this day a very popular method of connecting to Windows for many users.
Windows 10: a Microsoft account soon to be mandatory?
If the removal and outright banning of local accounts on Windows does not seem (yet) on the agenda, Microsoft is preparing to take a further step in this direction with the deployment of a new function aimed at to encourage Windows 10 users to switch to an online account. Indeed, as indicated Release note for Build 19045.4353 for Windows 10 : “This update starts rolling out notifications related to Microsoft accounts in Settings > Home. […] This feature displays notifications in the Start menu and Settings ». Clearly, people using Windows 10 with a local account will now see a banner displayed in the menu Settings and a message from the menu To start up “advising” them to create and use a Microsoft account.
This change fortunately remains purely incentive for the moment, and the company indicates that these messages can be disabled by unchecking the option Show notifications in the Settings app from the menu Settings > Privacy & Security > General (which exists on both Windows 10 and Windows 11).
Build 19045.4353 for Windows 10 is currently in testing and available only to Windows Insider members. However, its final deployment for all users is coming very quickly, with next month’s Patch Tuesday scheduled for May 14, 2024. As Windows 10 remains by far the most widespread operating system in the world and a good part of its users still use a local account, there is a good chance that you will be affected by this change and that your Windows PC will further encourage you to switch to a Microsoft account, if you have not already done so. Let’s hope that the company will stop at the simple recommendation stage and will not implement more drastic, or even coercive, measures to force recalcitrant users to abandon their local account.