I had to perform a fresh re-install on a laptop earlier this year and even had to go to the lengths of physically removing the WiFi card from the machine before I could get the local account option to appear in the installer. What an absolute fricken waste of time.

Right, we need laws to stop this practice. If, say, I bought a new laptop several years ago with Windows 10 on it and agreed to the terms and conditions at that time and Microsoft then increasingly tightens those rules with updates etc. then I'm forced to agree to the new terms that I now disagree with or otherwise I could potentially be in trouble. This ought to be a job for consumer law.

Moreover, MS is inexorably moving stuff, utilities etc, that were once on its website to its store that requires login for, it seems, similar reasons. Clearly, knowing exactly who we are has financial benefits for Microsoft or otherwise it wouldn't bother.