https://www.windowscentral.com/software-apps/windows-11/microsoft-want-to-bring-windows-11-to-the-cloud-for-all-users-including-you
@binkle @coolboymew I'm pretty sure this will lead to the biggest exodus to Linux yet. It won't be a majority but it will be a significant number. I know a lot of people (namely PC gamers) who hate cloud-computing but still use Windows. This could be their breaking point.
Of course, Microsoft could force hardware manufacturers to only allow Windows on their computers, but we can always point them to companies like System76.
b e a r d
@xianc78 @binkle @coolboymew it looks to me like they're just introducing another way people can use windows 11. this one is for the normies or very niche use cases. apparently you've already been able to do it as a business for a while, anyway.
non-cloud windows will never go away. there might be increasingly more cloud functionality that is introduced into it, but as long as the user has the ability to turn that off you won't see many people swapping to linux. not gamers who want to actually utilize their hardware to the fullest. not normies who don't even know how to install an OS, let alone work out the linux kinks.
@beardalaxy @binkle @coolboymew I mean, there will always be use cases for local computing, such as embedded systems and devices that have no reason to connect to the Internet or any network at all. There are still variants of Windows for those purposes and they seem to be the only ones that don't require you having a Microsoft account to use. Someone even made a custom Windows 8 embedded ISO that supposedly stripped all of the telemetry, but it requires a product key to keep it legal (or at least in a legal gray area), and keys for embedded versions of Windows are ridiculously expensive.
Businesses love cloud computing because before that, you had to set up your own intranets along with file servers, email servers, VPN servers, etc. And even then, it was difficult (if not impossible) to fully their employee's work activity. It's because of them that sometimes people have no choice but to use Google Drive because nobody knows how to email files or transfer files via removable storage anymore.
@xianc78 @binkle @coolboymew you don't need an MS account to use any version of windows. you can make local accounts.
