Microsoft VP hints at ending Windows 11’s Microsoft Account requirement

Scott Hanselman, a long-standing Microsoft employee and current Vice President of Developer Community at Microsoft, has caused a stir in the Windows world with a brief post. He hints that the requirement to have a Microsoft account for Windows 11 might be coming to an end.

In the social media post, Hanselman writes just a few but loaded words: “Ya I hate that. Working on it.”

Hanselman wrote this in response to a question from a Windows user: “Nothing about removing the requirement to login to an MS online account just to use the computer…?”

Microsoft expert Zac Bowden interprets this to mean that many within Microsoft are campaigning to remove the mandatory Microsoft account requirement during Windows setup. However, the removal of the account requirement isn’t on the list of new features and improvements that Pavan Davuluri, President of Microsoft’s Windows + Devices (W+D), published. In that post, he says, among other things, that Windows updates can be paused indefinitely in the future.

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Currently, you need internet access to install and set up Windows 11, and you must sign in with your Microsoft account. This requirement to use a Microsoft account is likely the biggest annoyance for many Windows users. Microsoft’s aim is to bind Windows users more closely to the company and make its numerous products (such as OneDrive or the paid Microsoft 365 suite) more appealing to them. It also makes personalized advertising easier to implement.

However, Bowden believes that Hanselman is not alone in his desire to see the account requirement abolished. That said, within the giant Microsoft corporation, there are many departments and sub-organizations that do support the account requirement. Consequently, this proposal would have to pass through numerous levels of management and win out in several discussions. So, this decision is unlikely to be made anytime soon—if it happens at all.

Bowden doesn’t believe that a concrete plan for abolishing the account requirement is yet in motion, but he suspects that this issue is being seriously discussed within Microsoft. From a technical POV, the account requirement could be abolished immediately without much effort.