These are valid complaints tho.
Comment on Microsoft is enabling BitLocker device encryption by default on Windows 11
Brkdncr@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
The anti-MS here is annoying. They set up online accounts by default to improve usability and its complaints about privacy. They set up full disk encryption at rest by default to improve privacy and its complaints about usability.
gentooer@programming.dev 5 weeks ago
Badeendje@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
From powerusers yes, and taking away their options is nonsense. But for the general populace it is arguably a good thing.
msage@programming.dev 5 weeks ago
How?
Badeendje@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Most users have no clue, lose passwords, security is not something they think about at all. So arguably for these people setting up with an account, having them pay for 365, all their files are encrypted at least and backed up to OneDrive automatically, no user setup required. The whole ordeal is actually pretty sleek for people that just want to use their computer to sync their photos, browse the web and watch some videos. The Microsoft authenticator can store passwords, edge syncs everything… they even have a solution for syncing the co plete config of your windows to a second device… you log in and it’s exactly like my other PC.
I helped plenty of people migrate to their new laptop like this. I go through checking the setup on their old PC… everything is synced and done. Advise them on the new laptop they buy, and the new one is setup in under 15 minutes… no hassle at all.
BearOfaTime@lemm.ee 5 weeks ago
They set up online accounts by default to improve usability
Hahahahaha, you’re kidding, right? Or do you genuinely believe this?
The reason for defaulting to an MS account, and making it practically required (they even hide creating a local account during setup if it has a network connection), is to capture even more user data and telemetry.
IHawkMike@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Agreed. The immature iamsosmart user base is making me strongly consider leaving Lemmy for good. There just aren’t enough actual professionals here for any serious discussion in a technical community. It’s just a bunch of 20-year-olds who think they have the world figured out. And they all downvote based on emotion rather than facts (which I am quite prepared for).
Microsoft accounts, OneDrive, and BitLocker are absolutely great features for the average user providing SSO, cloud storage with ransomware-proof backups, and seamless full-disk encryption.
I love Linux too, but there seems to be no room for nuance on Lemmy. These children are insufferable.
dogslayeggs@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
I lost all of my data on a tablet that had Bitlocker installed without my knowledge. Not one time was I ever told that my drive was encrypted or that there was even something called Bitlocker or that I should write down some password or code. Bitlocker activated because of an OS update, and I had no way to unlock it so I had to wipe the drive. I don’t have an MS account, because I have no need to give MS all of my data, so I couldn’t unlock it that way either. And no, I’m not a 20 year old; I’m someone who has used computers since before the internet and have no interest in setting up a corporate account for every watch, shoe, phone, video game, car, etc. I have no interest in giving MS all of my pictures, documents, emails, and browsing history.
r00ty@kbin.life 5 weeks ago
Setting up online accounts and allowing login via online accounts is fine. Forcing the use of an online account to use an operating system is not OK. They are actively blocking workarounds people use to setup their machine with a local account only.
Providing an easy (perhaps upon installation or first login) method to enable full disk encryption is a good thing. Automatically doing it without user intervention is not.
I would say that enabling it by default and offering a way to disable it before it happens on a laptop makes sense. I have bitlocker enabled on my laptop. But I cannot see any real reason to put it on my desktop. The number of cases where bitlocker on my desktop makes sense are too few to bother with the potential for problems it brings.
The two things are also linked, I suspect they will tie in your bitlocker unlock keys to the microsoft account they force you to login with on computer/windows setup. Should you lose access through any means you could lose access to your account, you're one misclick/hardware change away from bricking your system.
I also wonder, say for example your Microsoft account becomes banned/deleted through some obscure TOS violation and your PC doesn't have any local accounts configured. Are you locked out of your PC?
I'm not anti microsoft. I'm anti a lot of their recent actions, and cynical about their overall intentions regarding them.