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Thanks to MikelTackNailer for the ping!
Posted on 01/07/2026 4:23:47 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
A simple software setup has become another checkpoint in Microsoft’s expanding web of identity and control.
Microsoft’s removal of phone activation for Windows and Office is another signal that the company is locking users into a fully connected, account-bound environment where privacy and ownership steadily fade.
In the past, activating Windows could be done privately without linking the computer to any online profile. Users could install the system, call an automated number, and receive a confirmation code. No internet, no account, no tracking.
That layer of independence is gone. Today, activation demands a Microsoft account and an active connection to the company’s servers.
The change surfaced when YouTuber Ben Kleinberg tried to activate Windows 7 and Office 2010 with an OEM key.
Expecting the old process, he found that the phone number now plays a recorded message telling callers that “support for product activation has moved online.”
A follow-up text message pointed him to the Microsoft Product Activation Portal, where sign-in is mandatory.
It is easy to miss what has been lost here. Phone activation might have been old-fashioned, but it was more private.
You could install software without revealing your identity or linking it to a broader ecosystem. The new system transforms that private transaction into an interaction within Microsoft’s cloud, where every activation, every license, and every key is associated with an online identity.
This is not isolated. In recent versions of Windows, Microsoft has made it increasingly difficult to create local accounts or complete setup without going online.
Now, even activating a legitimate copy of the operating system has become part of the same pattern: tie every function to a Microsoft account, require internet access, and collect the corresponding data.
That approach quietly redefines what ownership means in the digital age. Buying a license no longer guarantees control over your software; it...
(Excerpt) Read more at reclaimthenet.org ...
I read once a few decades ago that Windows 95 sold like 4 licenses in China in a quarter in the late 90’s.
Which goes to show that I am pretty sure that there will be alot of people getting around this.
>> You could install software without revealing your identity
...I don’t care so much about that
>> or linking it to a broader ecosystem.
...now THAT I care about BIGLY. I don’t care to be part of their dxmned “ecosystem”. Spamming invasive manipulative bastids!
Linux here we come...
And the slow pick, pick, picking away at our anonymity continues at the altar of Microsoft’s wish to control everything computer.
Microsnitch
It has been getting more difficult. I’ve installed very few things in the past two years and when I did I needed a geek to get it done. Even the new printer was impossible without help. (Because I don’t want to use a connection, and installing anything offline takes a genius.)
Of course, I never needed MS office, and Windows 11 is not my favorite version. Got enough 8’s and 10’s here for various purposes.
I draw the line at required internet access to install anything. My phone and computers are as separate as possible, no apps, no online activity on the phone. No MS account.
Not that MS cares about little me, I just resent their invasive behavior.
A while back they just reached in and killed my Wordpad. I got it back, but it wasn’t easy.
Hopefully someone finds a workaround for this because this reeks of corporation desperation. They want to "own everything" while we own nothing. I'm hearing lots more folks are moving to Linux, and stuff like this will make them move even faster.
meh- don’t activate it- not sure if they let you use it without activation anymore- but they used to- ran it for awhile without activating windows 10- just couldn’t personalize things like desktop- big deal- just used my own wallpapers-
I have been using Linux Mint more and more. The telemetry on Windows 11 is particularly worrisome. It is literally spying on everything you do. Linux has zero to very limited telemetry depending on the distribution.
I’m building a newer PC and when I get it completed, Linux Mint will be my primary O/S. I hope to be able to image my current W11 installation so I can run it in a virtual window in Linux. But stuff like this is doing more and more to drive me away from MicroThief altogether.
We have an old computer with Windows 7—it crashed long ago and was repaired with an unsupported version of Windows 7.
The annoying “warning this is an unsupported version” stuff pops up now and then but it still works ok.
I mostly use it offline.
i have a couple old drives with 7 on them- can plop them back in and go hopefully- if not will just use 10 without activating- i just hope they never demand it in order to just install it-
The inability to activate Windows without a Microsoft account was the final straw for me. No Windows 11 in my house. My Win 7 and Win 10 VMs are the end of the line.
I do 99% of my work on Linux and MacOS anyway.
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Thanks to MikelTackNailer for the ping!
They really really want to drive me to Linux!
Why would someone who wants to ‘reclaimthenet’ use Windows?
Windows 7? Activate the stone age? Why?
Where does it say they use Windows?
All I see is reporting on Microsoft and the experiences of Windows users.
You mean I have to read the article???
Point taken. I didn’t mean to ‘ass u me’ but i did.
I did an unactivaed W 10 install. Went back to 7 because 10 would not let me set up my dual monitors without activation.
At least I gave up trying.
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