Basically, install Windows as you normally would, but when asked for Time and Currency format, select English (World) instead of your country.
Then let the installer do its thing. Eventually, you will see a window with an ice cream cone on the floor with the words “Something went wrong” and the error message “OOBEREGION.” This cryptic message means that the “out of box experience” (OOBE) didn’t launch because it didn’t know which region to launch.
Click Skip, though, and Windows will install just fine. You won’t be prompted to buy Microsoft 365, you won’t be prompted to pay for a OneDrive subscription, and your Start menu won’t be cluttered with apps.
According to the article, “The only downside is that the Windows Store appears not to work out of the box.”
This is a feature, not a bug.
Can be a major deal breaker though for anyone using GamePass.
If you’re gonna buy into the Microsoft ecosystem with a subscription service and a Microsoft Account, you’ll be stuck with their trash. Should maybe consider what else might “break Gamepass” in the future (purely by accident of course).
Like how if you don’t want OneDrive, whoops, now your Office documents can’t autosave. Better put OneDrive back like a good consumer and here’s some ads about increasing storage, you’re welcome.
And WSL.
I don’t have the Store at work and I still installed WSL2 (from the command line IIRC).
Also Windows MR, potentially.
that is absolutely not a downside
GamePass.
Idgaf
Neither do I, but it’s obviously going to be a downside for some people.
Article’s author didn’t fully catch the meaning of “downside”.
I’m of the opinion that MS will eventually get this right, but it won’t be called Windows 11 by the time it does. The redesign, efforts into command-line and WSL, they are moving in a positive direction, but the ads, bloat, spyware, needs to go. If they can release Win12 or whatever its called with the simplicity of Win11, have the features of Win10 (and finally put a nail in the old interfaces from XP and before), they could have another solid performer like Windows 7.
They’re going nowhere. It’s making money, Microsoft is using that income to offset development cost instead of just selling the OS at a flat reasonable rate. It’s part of the Windows business model now.
Windows is entrenched, they own most of the business world, they will never face serious kickback for their design decisions. Not at this point. Not until Gen Z gets old enough and numerous enough to start pushing workplaces to adopt Apple, and that’s an even worse direction.
This isn’t ever going to change. The only thing they’ll do is give tools to Enterprise editions for businesses to control the install, and only via Azure, at a price point far too high for the average user. Anything less than Enterprise will be locked down and monetized to hell and back.
Effectively, if you’re not a business, you will not have true control over Windows. Users no longer get to be admins. You have to pay for that privilege.
They’re not offsetting anything, they still charge money for the boxed copy sold in stores. This is pure profit for them.
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I am a bit weirded out by such an association. Around me, I do see a few people with Apple tech, but they’re a minority. How would people that are able to afford these products be numerous enough to matter?
Elder millennial here. This was said of us, too. I remember main framers sometimes noting this direction and poking fun.
Yet here I am and the world keeps chugging along in similar ways.
I don’t know why gen z is being portrayed as tech illiterate everywhere on lemmy. We grew up with technology and half of us are adults already
Growing up with technology doesn’t automatically grant you knowledge of it. Kids that grow up with iPads are capable of using iPads, but sit them in front of a computer and they’ll be lost. Being technically literate is more than just being able to install an app from the app store.
Technically true yes but that is not going to be that way for everyone gen z are also people who are capable of learning. I personally am a tech and privacy nerd and know that not everyone of my generation is as interested but I am also sick off people branding gen z as dumb children on here, hell most of us are adults already.
Of course everybody can learn, but is anyone teaching them? I’m a millennial, I grew up with computers, but I had to learn a lot of things the hard way because it was just expected that we’d somehow become experts without anyone teaching us. We weren’t told about cybersecurity, or how to troubleshoot issues, I had to learn all those things by myself. And learning to troubleshoot and other more technical things I only learned because I’m actually interested in computers. Many of my peers aren’t, and so don’t know even the most basic things.
They just introduced them. What makes you think this isn’t an integral part of the future of Windows?
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Win12 isn’t gonna run locally. OS as a service.
Window Sun Ray edition…
I think they’ll go even harder, making Windows only run stuff purchased through the Windows Store so they can completely lock in the market.
For “security“
Absolutely. The security argument is used so often I’m surprised people aren’t more cynical about it.
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Financial security no doubt
They already have a Windows “S” mode or whatever it’s called that does this. People will reject it, even casual users. I had one person ask me to turn off this mode to their kid could play Roblox. They just want to run apps, they don’t care how they work.
that’s probably not going to happen because it will break some programs
Honestly, there are some apps out there they need complete overhauls or to be completely replaced.
Now that I can get the Windows Terminal and WSL without the Microsoft Store it seems like this is yet another bonus.
It also talks about just setting your region again after the install to get the windows store working again. Most of the other bloat still stays away though.