To Set Up Windows 11 Home You’ll Need a Microsoft Account

To Set Up Windows 11 Home You’ll Need a Microsoft Account

And more Windows 11 news

Microsoft has for some years been trying to force Windows 10 users to set up Windows using a Microsoft account. They’ve made it extremely difficult to set up Windows using a local account. However, it’s still possible, but it requires using workarounds like disconnecting from the internet to set up Windows.

Now PCWorld reports that such workarounds will no longer work, as Windows 11 Home will not allow users to set up Windows 11 at all without using a Microsoft account.

For a long time now, Microsoft has been trying to force Windows 10 users to use a Microsoft account to set up Windows rather than a local account. Now, according to PC World, you won’t be able to set up Windows 11 Home with a local account – you’ll be forced to set it up using a Microsoft account. If you want to set up a Windows 11 computer with a local account, you’ll need to spend about $100 to upgrade Windows 11 Home to Windows 11 Pro.

Once Windows 11 Home users set up Windows 11 with a Microsoft account, they will then be able to create local accounts. However, it seems fairly certain that by then Microsoft would have already collected identifying user data and hardware IDs.

Of course, the public debut of Windows 11 is still months away and the pressure is building on Microsoft to rethink some of its Windows 11 strategies.

PC Health Check App is MIA

Speaking of which, as of this date, Microsoft has removed its PC Health Check from the official Windows 11 page. 

Under “Check for compatibility” you’ll see “Coming soon” where the download link for the “PC Health Check” app used to be. 

Currently, the best way to check to see if your computer can run Windows 11 is using the WhyNotWin11 app, which we discuss here.

Microsoft Debating Changing the Windows 11 Processor Requirements

Microsoft may be seriously rethinking the CPU (processor) requirements for Windows 11. The company is considering allowing 7th generation and 8th generation Intel processors. Right now the minimum requirement for Windows 11 is 8th generation processors only. Allowing 7th generation processors means processors up to five years old would be supported. So far, Microsoft says Windows 11 will only support 8th generation Intel processors or newer. It will support only equivalent AMD and Qualcomm processors. See this page for the current list of processors supported by Windows 11.

And if you’re currently using Windows 10…

YOU DO NOT NEED TO WORRY ABOUT WINDOWS 11

Remember. If you’re using Windows 10, you do not have to upgrade to Windows 11 and you will not be forced to upgrade to Windows 11, at least not for quite a while). Windows 10 will continue to be updated and supported by Microsoft until October 14, 2025.