Windows 11: Removing bypassnro Script to Enhance Security and User Experience | Hacker News Reader

Windows 11: Removing bypassnro Script to Enhance Security and User Experience

blogs.windows.com

26 pointsstefankuehnel24 comments

For the uninformed, bypassnro was how you installed Windows 11 (anonymously?) and with full local control without a Microsoft account. To save a Ctrl-F:

    [Other]

    We’re removing the bypassnro.cmd script from the build to enhance security and user experience of Windows 11. This change ensures that all users exit setup with internet connectivity and a Microsoft Account.

I've come up with two possible conclusions:

1. Microsoft doesn't want me as a customer - despite being a developer in their ecosystem for 20+ years - because I don't want a Copilot-powered PC, don't buy their services and won't push my computer to a subscription model they own.

2. MS is a really big company and the parts that are still doing good dev-centric work have been crowded out by the consumer-oriented business, where the OS is just a means to pushing AI and cloud everything.

The reality doesn't really matter as I don't see how I can buy another windows machine when the desktop I'm using becomes unsupported in a few months, despite running triple-A games fine and being my development driver every day. I can't believe this was the goal and I'd bet their are people inside MS who are really disappointed with their direction, but hey - everyone is getting rich, so YOLO!

> Microsoft doesn't want me as a customer

Well, assuming you're right, when do you walk away?

We always come upon this inflection point where profits are prioritized over user experience. And users always threaten to leave, but never actually have any leverage. The Windows users are all invested in their Valorant and Microsoft Store purchases the same way Apple pundits can't threaten to walk away with $1,000+ invested in the software ecosystem. Microsoft doesn't want you, but you sure seem to want Microsoft.

If we accept that commercialized operating systems objectively suck, we can skip this whinging. There aren't any engineers at Microsoft waiting for their pager to light up so they can stop making bad software.

> Microsoft doesn't want me as a customer

You're right. The main customers are companies. Your employer will buy it for you!

Note that they indicate they're removing the script, not the registry value the script sets. This means bypassnro should continue to work.

At least one person at Microsoft either doesn't know what "user experience" means or they are being dishonest about it.

Forgot they are putting Copilot in Windows too. Between that and the thing where Windows takes screen prints of what you are doing (forgot its marketing name), why would people use it.

You can disable that feature if you don't want it.

"Yes, the Torment Nexus comes enabled by default but with the following terminal command you can make your computer act like normal."

I feel like this has become the defacto excuse for abhorrent software design nowadays. Like a learned helplessness, of sorts.

you can't get rid of a dedicated hardware button though, even if you set it to do nothing.

This thread is about Windows removing a feature, what makes you think they won't do the same with Copilot?

[dupe] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43511073

This is the only reason I accept installing windows 11 on a device. I will no longer support anyone in my family from now on with Windows. Goodbye and good luck.

Can't wait… in a year every local account will be forced to log in :)

You were downvoted, but once this is fully closed it's obvious they'll remove local account creation entirely within a year.

can you remove the copilot, ad tracking, unnecessary widgets, teams, one drive, candy crush, xbox, and all other trash together with this? removing most shit from Windows11 makes it a pleasant os to use actually.

congratulations, you've just made windows 7, 2025 edition.

I don't mind reaching xp, but the corporate overlords didn't let me go further. :D

I’ve been a Windows user for 30 years and a Mac user for 15 years so I see both sides of this. I think you can set up a new Mac without an Apple ID but an Apple ID has been a core part of the Apple ecosystem for so long that it feels silly not to use one. At the same time with Microsoft attempting to do the same thing it just feels janky and something I’d much rather skip.

The reason it feels silly to not use an Apple ID is because Apple will create un-dismissable nag indicators in Settings and elsewhere begging you to log in for iCloud functionality.

I’ve never tried it so I’ll take your word for it. To me the reason it feels silly is because iCloud functionality is really good.

To me the reason it feels silly is because iCloud is a paid subscription service and I am constantly advertised it even when using something like Syncthing or Nextcloud to provide equivalent support.

Sort of but 1. You can still have an OS without an Apple ID, it just sucks 2. When you buy an Apple device, you did the research and know “the deal”. Microsoft doesn’t market devices that way, they want to work on every device and control it at the software level. 3. I trust Apple more, they are somewhat regularly in trouble for not giving out the keys to my data. When’s the last time Microsoft fought the FBI for access to a surface device ?

> When’s the last time Microsoft fought the FBI for access to a surface device ?

Any company that has designed their security well doesn't have to fight the FBI because they have no data to give them. Apple's iCloud copies encryption keys for your data, giving Apple a backup decryption key that they can very easily give to any fed (and likely do already in FIVE-EYES/Chinese jurisdictions).

Private technology isn't dictated by relativism or dialectics. Treating your security like this is simply how you get hacked - I wouldn't trust Bitlocker or iCloud to protect my data because both are objectively backdoored. It doesn't matter how many San Bernadino publicity stunts the parent company arranges, you would look like a moron using this same line of logic to defend Microsoft or Google.

I use an Apple device on a work device and I don't need to use Apple ID for anything. Apple laptop is the only device in the ecosystem.

Apple Store doesn't have useful apps for me, I rather use brew for installation, or I need to download dmg.

I don't use Apple Music because I use Spotify with my friends.

I don't use Apple Mail because we are in the Google ecosystem, so I use Gmail.

I don't use Apple Calendar (there is such a thing?), because in the Google ecosystem I use Google Calendar and - for notifications in the tray - Notion Calendar.

What do I lose by not using Apple ID?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com