There were relatively few complaints when Microsoft added these new rules for Home users – maybe because most of the outcry was focused on the new TPM/CPU requirements for the product. Or maybe the power users who typically would bristle over these requirements had found workarounds that kept them from kicking and screaming all that much. In any case, Microsoft may or may not make the Internet connectivity/MSA a permanent thing for Pro variants of Windows 11. As Microsoft officials continue to drive home, the Dev Channel is for experimentation, and features that debut for testers there may never make it into a shipping version of Windows 11. However, my bet is these new requirements will just roll into future builds and releases of Windows 11 and that will be that. Microsoft’s wording in this week’s blog post: “Similar to Windows 11 Home edition, Windows 11 Pro edition now requires internet connectivity during the initial device setup (OOBE) only. If you choose to setup device for personal use, MSA will be required for setup as well. You can expect Microsoft Account to be required in subsequent WIP flights.” Like my Windows Weekly colleague Paul Thurrott, I’m guessing there will be continued workarounds of some kind to keep people dead-set against having to sign in with an MSA happy. I guess we’ll see…
