Future of online account requirements in operating systems

[LloydLynx]

Microsoft first had me concerned about this. Xbox has a hard requirement for an online Microsoft account. They're requiring it in Windows 10 Home and all edition of Windows 11, though unsupported workarounds are possible. Over on Apple, I don't have experience, but I've read you'll get annoying popups occasionally if you don't have an iCloud account attached. Over on Android, it's not too bad since you have a clear option during setup to skip the Google account sign in. And if you need apps, you can get the APKs from other sources including 3rd party app stores. 

 

But this has me worried about the future of forced online accounts just to use a device. I can totally see a point where there are no local-only account options in any mainstream tech and a future where you have to use mainstream tech to exist in society at all. People will be technically free to avoid tech they disagree with, except realistically not. We're already half way there right now. 

[Crunchy Dragon]

You need an Apple ID on Apple devices, but you're not forced to use iCloud. I have it disabled because I don't like cloud storage. Microsoft is actually more annoying in this regard; even if you don't create a Microsoft account, you'll still be plagued with OneDrive popups.

 

I don't fully anticipate future technologies requiring radically more accounts than we already have; if you have the Big Three(Google, Apple, Microsoft) you can get by pretty much anywhere. Microsoft isn't even a hard requirement yet, depending on your lifestyle. Maybe once the cyberpunk dystopia sets in, we'll have a society where you're forced to use certain technology even if you disagree with it, but I wouldn't say we're there or halfway there right now.

 

I think that it really varies by lifestyle, though. Different people do different things and certain activities require certain online accounts. I'm not too attached to my screens, the most I really need in my day-to-day is my Proton account for the email tied to my bank and my Apple ID(I daily drive a MacBook) and the Google account on my smartphone.

[DrMacintosh]

There are 3 options. Pro edition of Windows, get a Mac, or use Linux. You can setup and use a Mac without an Apple ID, but you end up with a crippled experience as you can't use the App Store or integrate with any of the features of iCloud.

 

If forced to choose, the Mac is my home.

[ewitte]

On 5/7/2023 at 1:03 PM, DrMacintosh said:

There are 3 options. Pro edition of Windows, get a Mac, or use Linux. You can setup and use a Mac without an Apple ID, but you end up with a crippled experience as you can't use the App Store or integrate with any of the features of iCloud.

 

If forced to choose, the Mac is my home.

You can install windows pro and just not license it, however there are keys available for like $10.  You can also still put an old windows 7 key in during the install.

[RollyShed]

On 5/8/2023 at 5:31 AM, LloydLynx said:

But this has me worried about the future of forced online accounts just to use a device.

You're joking... aren't you? What forced accounts to use a device. I mean a device with a full office suite, web browsers, video players and editors, sound players and editors, 3D planning, and even (wash your mouth out) games.

 

All of this is totally FREE and will be for a very long time..... just don't get involved with Microsoft or Apple, wipe them and install something reliable, logical and FREE.

[LloydLynx]

5 hours ago, RollyShed said:

You're joking... aren't you? What forced accounts to use a device. I mean a device with a full office suite, web browsers, video players and editors, sound players and editors, 3D planning, and even (wash your mouth out) games.

 

All of this is totally FREE and will be for a very long time..... just don't get involved with Microsoft or Apple, wipe them and install something reliable, logical and FREE.

I'm talking about proprietary mainstream tech. Unless FOSS can get a good chunk of the normie market share, then this is the future I see rolling out. 

[RollyShed]

5 hours ago, LloydLynx said:

I'm talking about proprietary mainstream tech.

Yes, I know that.... unfortunately. Basically, if simply "buying off the shelf" that is what the customer will have to put up with. For those who know a little bit more and are willing to do something about it, yes, they will have control.

 

Maybe it needs to be taught in school, how to have control - technology, life, the Universe.

[LloydLynx]

7 hours ago, RollyShed said:

Maybe it needs to be taught in school, how to have control - technology, life, the Universe.

That's exactly what the higher ups don't want to do. 

 

7 hours ago, RollyShed said:

Yes, I know that.... unfortunately. Basically, if simply "buying off the shelf" that is what the customer will have to put up with. For those who know a little bit more and are willing to do something about it, yes, they will have control.

For now, those of us who know better can avoid tech we don't want. But what about the future when more and more jobs will require a smartphone with apps or even specifically Google services to be used on the phone. And some of the people who do know better might be too poor to use alternative solutions like a Lineage OS phone. And then eventually the cashless society will come and we'll also have to carry a device to identify ourselves instead of a plastic card. 

[maplepants]

I think that these requirements are going to get more strict, and I think that it'll be because users expect it. They will feel like their device is broken if it doesn't have their primary sign in method be some cloud account. 

 

Passkeys are arriving now and I think we'll see a transition away from passwords for the average user. On Apple devices passkeys are strongly tied to iCloud just like they are on Android phones. For the average person, their phone is their most important computer. Microsoft will have to make logging into stuff on Windows just as easy as it is on the Android/iPhone users are already carrying in their pocket. And that's exactly what they've got planned.

 

Savvy users will manage their passkeys themselves with a password manager like bitwarden or 1password and therefore won't *need* these platform specific passkey management solutions. But that number of people will be so small that the platform vendors will care even less about them than they already do. So you'd be able to make a go of it with Lineage, a Linux desktop and a password manager, but trying to go without an account on the big 3 platforms will probably only get harder.

[Egon3]

Although I don't agree with requiring all users to create online accounts for operating systems like Windows/Mac, it is beneficial for the company from a supportability standpoint as it enables them to make the experience more seamless for users between different devices. Laptop broken? Cool, sign into a new one and all your stuff comes down from the cloud. No need to fiddle with your desktop icons or customizing your menus how you like them. Less tech support calls = less money spent helping users if they can help themselves.

 

As more and more users use computers for daily things, they are getting dumber on how to use them too because of the increased user friendliness. Back when I was in high school, I knew my way all around Windows, knew the file structure, how to find my documents, program files, etc. Nowadays, there are college-aged people who download a file from the internet and don't even know how to get to it, or don't know how to find their word document if it doesn't show up under their "Recent" files in Word.