Microsoft accounts and Windows 8

DV1

New Member
Messages
1
Looking for a place where I could ask the following I thought that this forum might be able to help. If not, then any suggestions as to where else I could ask would be appreciated.

I have a friend over in London UK and ever since she got Windows 8 on a new laptop she has had shall we say less than complimentary comments about the OS. She misses W7 and even when she asked her tech about installing it in her laptop the tech said he couldn't get it from Microsoft. Since I have no knowledge as to how Microsoft's OS distribution system works abroad I cannot comment on it other than what my friend and her tech related about it.

But apart from using W8 the big problem for her seems to be in the signing in with her Microsoft account. The little that I've read of this it seems that one has to do so in order to take advantage of all the apps and some other features.

I remember some years back that another friend of mine here in the US had an ATT account and best I could tell it worked like the Microsoft signing in. In other words, both of the accounts somehow filter the user's experience, it's like a middle-man between you and the internet.

My experience is different from those in that I am able to access the browser/web without having to sign in with any account whatsoever. I have Cox Cable as the provider and my accessing is simply turning on the pc, click Firefox and I'm ready to go. And since I've yet in all my years of using a computer have encountered this type of obstacle course to web usage it's difficult for me to give advice on the matter.

Now, what I'm wondering is if the provider that my friend is using in London somehow demands this type of signing in and middle-man aspect. That certainly seemed to be the case with my friend here in the US re ATT and some diabolical complicity with Yahoo. Thus it seems that W8 and the Microsoft signing in is a type of uber-proprietary arrangement.

As for W8 itself, I'm sure many here in this forum find it an excellent experience but my UK friend just wishes the nightmare would stop. To put it in her words, she thinks W8 is just counter-intuitive.

Anyway, I think you get the picture by now so perhaps someone can inform me as to some of these elements and maybe I can bring some hope and 'peace of computing' to my friend in the UK. :)

Thank You

Dan
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dude
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3570K CPU OC@ 4.5 GHZ Turbo
    Motherboard
    MSI Z77MA-G45 (MS-7759)
    Memory
    8.00 GB DDR3 1600Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    PNY GTX 760
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell S23O9W, HP L1710
    Screen Resolution
    DELL-1920 x 1080 HP-1280 x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial m4 256 SSD WD 7200RPM 500GB
    PSU
    Seasonic X650 Gold
    Case
    Zalman Z12
    Cooling
    Antec Kuhler 920
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    MSI DS100 Interceptor
    Internet Speed
    50 down 5 up
    Browser
    Chrome, IE 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Logitech X-620 Speakers
Looking for a place where I could ask the following I thought that this forum might be able to help. If not, then any suggestions as to where else I could ask would be appreciated.

I have a friend over in London UK and ever since she got Windows 8 on a new laptop she has had shall we say less than complimentary comments about the OS. She misses W7 and even when she asked her tech about installing it in her laptop the tech said he couldn't get it from Microsoft. Since I have no knowledge as to how Microsoft's OS distribution system works abroad I cannot comment on it other than what my friend and her tech related about it.

But apart from using W8 the big problem for her seems to be in the signing in with her Microsoft account. The little that I've read of this it seems that one has to do so in order to take advantage of all the apps and some other features.

I remember some years back that another friend of mine here in the US had an ATT account and best I could tell it worked like the Microsoft signing in. In other words, both of the accounts somehow filter the user's experience, it's like a middle-man between you and the internet.

My experience is different from those in that I am able to access the browser/web without having to sign in with any account whatsoever. I have Cox Cable as the provider and my accessing is simply turning on the pc, click Firefox and I'm ready to go. And since I've yet in all my years of using a computer have encountered this type of obstacle course to web usage it's difficult for me to give advice on the matter.

Now, what I'm wondering is if the provider that my friend is using in London somehow demands this type of signing in and middle-man aspect. That certainly seemed to be the case with my friend here in the US re ATT and some diabolical complicity with Yahoo. Thus it seems that W8 and the Microsoft signing in is a type of uber-proprietary arrangement.

As for W8 itself, I'm sure many here in this forum find it an excellent experience but my UK friend just wishes the nightmare would stop. To put it in her words, she thinks W8 is just counter-intuitive.

Anyway, I think you get the picture by now so perhaps someone can inform me as to some of these elements and maybe I can bring some hope and 'peace of computing' to my friend in the UK. :)

Thank You

Dan

Hello Dan,

From what I understand after reading your long post, you have misunderstood your friend.

Here are a couple of lines from your post:

My experience is different from those in that I am able to access the browser/web without having to sign in with any account whatsoever. I have Cox Cable as the provider and my accessing is simply turning on the pc, click Firefox and I'm ready to go. And since I've yet in all my years of using a computer have encountered this type of obstacle course to web usage it's difficult for me to give advice on the matter.

Now, what I'm wondering is if the provider that my friend is using in London somehow demands this type of signing in and middle-man aspect.

Here is the explanation, based on whatever I know so far:

In Windows 8 or Windows 8.1, just like any other previous versions of Windows, it doesn't require you any kind of sign in to surf the internet through a browser, whether it is Microsoft's own Internet Explorer or Firefox or Google Chrome.

The sign in is required only if you want to download apps from Microsoft's Windows Store, or if you want to use some of the per-installed apps which require sign in such as Mail app, Calender app etc. I hope that explains.

So, basically its not the service provider that demands any type of sign in. Your friend is demanded sign in by Microsoft only if she wants to use the Windows Store or some of the apps that has to sync data with a Microsoft account. For example, the calender app has to sync the data with a Microsoft account so that it can be accessed by the user from anywhere with any device such as a phone. Its for this reason, that a Microsoft sign in is required.

Hope I have been able to help.

Arpan :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Linux Mint 14
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion g4
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2330M CPU @ 2.20GHz
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    1 GB Radeon Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic PnP Monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500 GB HDD
Back
Top