Microsoft has been pushing hard for its users to sign into Windows with a Microsoft Account. The newest Windows 11 installer removed the easy bypass to the requirement that you make an account or login with your existing account. If you didn’t install Windows 11 without a Microsoft Account and now want to stop sending the company your data, you can still switch to a local account after the fact. Microsoft even had instructions on how to do this on its official support website - or at least it used to…
I’d actually argue that most shareholders do know what a bad move it is but are willing to stay around for it because the average consumer has proven to begrudgingly live with adverts everywhere. Amazom gets away with it on Prime, mobile ads are even worse, and Youtube gets away with it despite the outrage… I wonder whether the ads would also lead to an ad-free Windows 365 subscription for consumers analogous to Youtube Premium.