More workarounds appear to get around Microsoft's local account restrictions
As we recently reported, Microsoft is now enforcing more hard-line restrictions in the latest Windows 11 builds, making online account creation or sign-in almost unavoidable during the out-of-box experience (OOBE). While such a decision will help users not to "skip critical setup screens" (as per Microsoft), it will inadvertently leave some frustrated. Besides the absence of an Internet connection being the main reason to skip the online sign-in process, many users don't see any particular benefits in creating a Microsoft account. Lastly, the abundance of choice on many levels was always one of the main positive points of Windows, so cutting down options for users may somehow look like a misstep from Microsoft's side.
Anyway, within less than 24 hours of the news above, new ways to bypass local account restrictions during OOBE started to emerge throughout the Internet. One of them, as X.com user @TheBobPony shows, requires users to disconnect the Internet connection, if it is available, first:
Another way, implied by @GreepTheSheep, creates a local user with the help of a few commands, allowing for a somewhat faster installation process:
It won't be surprising if Microsoft soon blocks most or all workarounds possible. However, so far, all users still have a more straightforward way to install Windows with a local account: to download the earlier Windows 11 24H2 build and then update it to the latest version.
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