Recently, I decided to switch from Windows 10 to Windows 11. It wasn’t the first time I upgraded from one version of Windows to another, but this time something felt different.

I downloaded the ISO directly from Microsoft and started the installation. Although I do have a Microsoft account, I had never used it to sign in to Windows. I always created a local account and used that for everything. To my surprise, those days are over. With Windows 11, you either use a Microsoft account or you don’t use Windows 11 at all.

I can understand that Microsoft may want to offer a more secure operating system with this approach, although I have my doubts about the purity of the company’s intentions. Still, forcing users to create and use a Microsoft account feels less like protection and more like a push away from Microsoft products.

Anyway, I took a sip of the poison Microsoft offered and logged in with my Microsoft account. But wait, using a simple email and password is no longer enough. I found myself tangled in a web of two-factor authentication options, passphrases, PINs, backup emails, and phone numbers. This security roller coaster made me nostalgic for the good old days, when all you needed to install Windows 98 was a serial number, usually one that was circulating among friends. Of course, back then you also needed drivers.

Today, driver installation is a completely different experience. During the OS installation, Windows automatically searched for and installed drivers for my devices without asking for any specifications. For 45 minutes, it repeated the same ritual: searching, downloading, installing—over and over again. At some point, I honestly thought the installation had crashed. But no, it hadn’t. I just had to wait a little longer.

After all the pain—being forced to use a Microsoft account and waiting endlessly while drivers were searched, downloaded, and installed—I finally became a happy (and thoroughly spied-on) user of Microsoft Windows 11. Of course, I still had to install my applications manually. Probably the next step in Microsoft’s installation process will be letting you select the applications you want during OS setup, so the system can search, download, and install those too.

In the end, installing Windows 11 felt less like setting up an operating system and more like negotiating a contract, one that trades simplicity and control for convenience and security. While modern features like automatic driver installation and enhanced protection undeniably have their benefits, they also come at the cost of time, autonomy, and privacy. The experience made it clear that Windows is no longer just a tool you install and own, but a service you join. Whether this is progress or a step too far depends on how much control users are willing to give up in exchange for comfort and reassurance.