Say what you may, but the Home SKUs of Windows have had it tough lately. There is a distinct lack of control available for users of these versions, and almost all of it is intentional from Microsoft.
Perhaps, the company believes that people who use these variants are not as technically savvy as those who fly with the Pro versions. Either that, or the company simply sees these users as guinea pigs for grander plans that it has for its operating platforms.
Case in point, how updates were mandatory for Windows 10 Home, and how hard it is to defer them on this version of the OS.
Something similar is at play here with Windows 11 Home.
In a quirky little development, Redmond has tweaked the OOBE process in the new operating system so that it requires an active internet connection to complete the setup. This is done to push users towards logging in to their Microsoft accounts when installing the operating system.
This is in stark contrast to the installation of the Pro version of Windows 11, which allowed users an option for a limited setup that involved setting up a local account.
In fact, the screen that prompts users to connect to a Wi-Fi network during the setup process does not come with an “Offline account” option, leaving users with no other choice than to either log in or create a Microsoft account.
This is the case even when these users are not connected to the internet.
Of course, those who choose to log in to their Microsoft account can switch into a local account from the Settings panel after setting up their device. But currently, there seem to be no other way to circumvent this limitation in the setup process.
It is not yet clear whether the absence of an option to set up a device without an internet connection is accidental or only part of the leaked build that was not meant to ship to customers.
But seeing that the OOBE is entirely new and different from Windows 10, this does seem intentional.
Guess we’ll just have to wait and see on this one.
