Category: Windows

Microsoft is making a change to the Windows 11 out-of-the-box-experience, also called OOBE. The company has removed a script that lets users skip adding a Microsoft account when setting up Windows.

Normally, when you install a fresh copy of Windows, the set-up process requires you to sign in to your Microsoft account. It even highlights some advantages of connecting an account such as the ability to sync your data across your computers, accessing the Microsoft Store, saving files to OneDrive, Microsoft Office products, etc.

The problem with this process is that it does not offer any option to skip the account sign in. In other words, the set-up does not let you set up the PC with a local account. This annoying requirement has been in place since February 2022.

However, there are a few workarounds using which users can bypass the log-in prompts, allowing them to install Windows sans a Microsoft account.

Naturally, Microsoft does not like it when people resort to such measures. In a bid to curb this, the Redmond company has revealed that it is removing the bypassnro.cmd script from the operating system. This change is already in effect in the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview Build for the Dev Channel, with Build 26200.5516 (KB5054687).

For those unaware, Microsoft is referring to a command that users could run when setting up Windows when you are not connected to the internet. Press Shift + F10 and type OOBE\BYPASSNRO and hit Enter. When you reboot the PC, the “Let’s connect you to a network” screen will display another option, “I don’t have Internet”. Users could use this method to bypass the internet and Microsoft account requirement.

The official explanation regarding the removal of the script is that this move was done to enhance the security and user experience of Windows 11. It also states that users will exit the setup with internet connectivity and a Microsoft Account. The message that it tries to convey is that users have no choice but to sign in to their account, the loophole has been closed. Oh, really! Well, no!

It’s gone, but there is a workaround

There is some good news. Even though it may seem like the option is being removed, you still have other ways to skip the account requirement. Notable Windows Insider and X user, phantomofearth, has revealed that Microsoft has only removed the BypassNRO script. But, you can still bypass the network requirement simply by editing a Windows Registry.

Open Regedit and create a new DWORD under the following location: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE.

Set its value to 1, and reboot your computer. Now, you should see the “I don’t have Internet” option. Select it and proceed to set up your PC without a Microsoft account.

As Martin mentioned on Ghacks, there are a couple of other ways to bypass these annoying requirements, for example, you could use a banned email address like no@thankyou.com or a@a.com which lets you skip the account sign in process. The Rufus tool also lets you disable the online account requirement while setting up a Windows installation media.

Microsoft has launched a Windows Roadmap to help users discover when new features will be added to Windows. Here’s how you can use it.

It’s not easy to discover when new features are coming to Windows. Sometimes, you may not know what features are being released either. You might suddenly come across a new feature after a Windows Update has been installed on your computer.

This is what the Roadmap addresses, it sort of gives you a heads-up. It’s quite impressive actually, the page lists all upcoming features and improvements that are currently being tested in the Windows Insider Program.

Each listing has a description that explains what a feature does, and links to a relevant article on the Windows Insider Blog that has some additional details, so you can learn more about it. You can also find out the current status of the development, i.e., whether it is in preview, or gradually rolling out, or is generally available to all users.

The Roadmap also gives you an ETA about when we can expect a specific improvement or feature to be available, this is a tentative date.

There is a search bar at the top of the page, which you can use to find something specific. For example, you could type “Explorer”, and the list will filter the results to only show improvements that are heading to File Explorer.

There are some options that are available below the search box. These are filters that allow you to refine the results further. For instance, you can use them to view the features that will be available for a specific version of Windows 11, such as 23H2 or 24H2. Similarly, you can filter results by platform, all PCs or just Copilot+ PCs. You can even filter the results by the status of a feature, and which channel it is currently being tested in.

Now of course, just because something is listed on the Windows Roadmap does not mean that the feature has been finalized. Microsoft could decide to remove something if the feedback that the company received from testers was negative. Or it might delay a feature to make further improvements, and testing.

The announcement on the Redmond company’s blog highlights that the Windows Roadmap could be very useful for IT admins who manage several workstations at the office, as they can use the information to plan ahead. But, it could be handy for regular users too, as it can help them decide whether to defer updates if they perceive some features as annoyances. e.g. Windows Recall

You could skip an upgrade to a major version entirely, but this involves changing a policy or requires a third-party utility like InControl to set your preferred target release. A lot of users are still on Windows 11 23H2, having avoided the upgrade to Windows 11 24H2, due to various bugs that were introduced in the latest version.

For once, Microsoft has done the right thing by launching the Windows Roadmap. But whether users will like the features that it adds to Windows is a completely different story.

Google Drive is now compatible with ARM PCs that run on Windows. Now, users with a Microsoft Surface or a Snapdragon powered Windows device can sync their data to the cloud with the official client.

Microsoft had partnered with Qualcomm and OEMs like HP, Dell, Acer, ASUS, Lenovo and Samsung to help launch computers that were powered by Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus chips. These were the first CoPilot+ PCs, that were designed for AI and promised all–day battery life.

But things didn’t go smoothly as Snapdragon PCs ran into some hurdles, not just in terms of hardware performance or controversies surrounding Windows Recall, but also due to some software support. Many popular apps were not available for ARM64 devices, one notable example of this was the lack of a native version of the Google Drive app.

The Mountain View company had released a beta version of Google Drive for Windows on ARM devices in December 2024, after acknowledging requests from users who had been asking Google to release an official version of the app for ARM PCs. After a successful test phase that lasted a few months, Google has finally announced that it has released the stable version of the app for all users.

Now, you could ask why bother with the app, while you can always access the cloud storage service via a web browser. Well, the Google Drive app offers some useful features for desktop users. You can set it to “Stream Files”, which will allow you to browse files that are stored in the cloud like a local folder via File Explorer, without actually downloading them permanently.

When you want to access a file from the cloud, you can download it to your PC. On the other hand, you may want to use the mirror files option in Google Drive, which saves the files on your computer’s local storage for quick access.

More importantly, the Google Drive app for desktop saves the edits you made to your files and syncs them to the cloud automatically.

The Google Drive app for ARM PCs is only compatible with devices running Windows 11 and Microsoft WebView2. The app is currently rolling out to users, and might take about 15 days before it is available to all users. Existing users on the beta version will automatically be updated to the stable version. You can download the Google Drive app for ARM on Windows from the official website.

Google says that the app will be available for all Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts.

Many people were surprised when Google announced that it would bring its Chrome browser for Windows on ARM, as it is an operating system that is directly competing with its own ChromeOS platform. Google’s support for Windows on ARM is a big win, not just for users, but also for OEMs, Qualcomm, and Microsoft. Of course, Google will benefit from it more, if it manages to attract users to its paid subscriptions such as Google One, YouTube Premium and more.

Microsoft is discontinuing yet another of its apps. This time OneNote for Windows 10 is getting the axe.

According to a Microsoft Message Center post (via Neowin), the app will each end of support on October 14, 2025, after which it will no longer receive any bug fixes, security patches, or feature updates. That happens to be the same date when Windows 10 will reach its end of life support as well. That’s not a coincidence, so it may not sound surprising at first. You see, despite its name, OneNote for Windows 10, also works on Windows 11.

Clearly, there are some other reasons why Microsoft wants to shutter the app. The Redmond company is advising users of the OneNote for Windows 10 app to switch to its other note-taking app, OneNote for Windows, which is a part of Microsoft 365.

Microsoft says the older app does not support Microsoft Information Protection (MIP) sensitivity labeling that is used to secure sensitive data, and that the labeled content will be unavailable on OneNote for Windows 10. This may sound odd, but Microsoft says that users on the older version will experience slower sync performance from June 2025, and that this could affect multi-device access and real-time collaboration. It really does sound like the company will deliberately downgrade the experience of the app. Is that even legal?

One more thing that Microsoft highlighted is the fact that that OneNote for Windows has a lot more features, including AI-powered features like Copilot to enhance productivity. Now it makes sense, this could be a just another way to get more users over to Copilot.

OneNote for Windows 10 will display ads asking to switch to the newer app

And it gets worse, the document also reveals that OneNote users will see an in-app banner asking them to switch to OneNote on Windows from July 2025. Of course, it wants to show more ads, that’s what we need.

This is not the first time either, Microsoft already promotes the newer app, take a look at this gigantic banner that asks me to switch to the newer app. There is also a permanent button on the app’s header that serves as a reminder to migrate to the newest version.

Users who plan to move to the new app should take a backup of their data before removing the OneNote for Windows 10 app. You can then use the backup to import the contents of your notes to the new app. Follow Microsoft’s help article for more details about the process.

Alternatively, you could just uninstall the OneNote for Windows app, and access the web version of the note-taking service via your browser.

On the other hand, for users who wish to migrate away, you may want to consider switching to something like Obsidian, Joplin, Standard Notes, NotesNook, etc. All of these are free, open source apps which work offline, and offer an optional sign-up that gives you extra features including cross-platform sync, but there are some limitations that are behind a paywall.

The integration of the Copilot AI in Windows has been lackluster up to this point, if you ask me. It felt rushed and Microsoft is still scrambling to improve its use for users. The same is true for any other AI that is available as an application.

While there are plenty of options to use AI on Windows, the tools do not really offer much in terms of usability that is not also available elsewhere.

Microsoft seems to have forgotten a key ingredient regarding the successful launch of a new product: the benefit for the user.

The initial Copilot offered some of that, as it supported the tiniest amount of Windows-specific control options. It demonstrated what could have been, even though the implementation itself was cumbersome. Even Microsoft did not publish the full list of commands that Copilot supported back then.

Microsoft changed its strategy suddenly and replaced the integration with a copy of the web version. Windows-specific options were gone and the clear signal was that they would not be back anytime soon.

Two new Copilot for Windows features were shown this week. While I would not call them gamechangers, some Windows users may find them useful.

Number 1: Gaming

Microsoft describes Copilot for Gaming as “the ultimate gaming sidekick that helps players get to play faster, sharpen skills with expert coaching, and enjoy a more social gaming experience”.

The key feature is helpful coaching, not game recommendations, maintaining connections with friends, or seamless game setups.

One particularly exciting area which Kardar demonstrated on the podcast is a future feature of Copilot for Gaming: in-game assistance. In example scenarios, players were presented using natural language, where Copilot was able to provide situation-specific advice to assist players in overcoming challenges and improving their gameplay.

So, when you are stuck in a game currently, you may fire up a web browser to find a solution. Maybe it is a YouTube video or a tutorial that explains how to beat a particularly difficult boss in the game you are playing.

Clearly, it remains to be seen how useful this AI assistance is really going to be, but it is finally something specific and not just a feature that everyone is also offering.

Number 2: Press to talk

The main mode of interaction with AI is typing currently. Microsoft, Google, and other major players are evolving their AIs to allow different means of communication.

Talking offers advantages in some situations, for instance when you have your hands busy or do not want to leave an app or game that you are using at the moment.

Press to talk is a new feature of Copilot for Windows that is rolling out currently to Windows Insiders. Microsoft mapped the function to the Alt-Spacebar shortcut of Copilot. Press the two keys for two seconds to start a conversation with Copilot.

Ask anything over the microphone and you get an answer from the AI. Copilot ends the conversation automatically when there is no speaking for several seconds.

This may be useful in several scenarios, from gaming over other fullscreen applications to asking for contextual help without having to do a lot of typing.

Closing Words

Yes, these features may not persuade the majority of Windows users to give it a try or buy a new Copilot+ PC. What I like about them is that they introduce usefulness to Copilot when using Windows in particularly.

I expect more features like these to become available in the future.

What is your take on this? Do you see your “future you” using Copilot or another AI? Feel free to leave a comment down below.