{"slug": "rufus", "name": "Rufus", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 3, "warners": 0, "score": 2.658, "rising": -0.98, "first": "2025-12-21", "latest": "2026-06-25", "why": "Rufus has options to make the Windows installer skip the Microsoft account login. Worked great!", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 0, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "Rufus has options to make the Windows installer skip the Microsoft account login. Worked great!", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": "github.com/pbatard/rufus", "official_url": "https://rufus.ie", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Rufus"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 776641360, "item_id": 48540085, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48540085", "by": "Grombobulous", "date": "2026-06-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Toss your Windows 11 ISO into Rufus and disabling things like Microsoft account requirements is a trivial process.", "excerpt": "The other potentially obvious question is why bother using an OS that\u2019s out of support when Linux is so good? I left Windows 11. The last straw wasn\u2019t Microsoft accounts or Windows updates. I actually thought the OS was fine, most OS updates actually added great new features, and anything I considered an annoyance was easy to disable permanently. Toss your Windows 11 ISO into Rufus and disabling things like Microsoft", "context": "Left Windows 11 for Linux", "use_case": "disabling Microsoft account requirement", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything"}, {"id": 776609152, "item_id": 48538072, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48538072", "by": "zubspace", "date": "2026-06-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Rufus has options to make the Windows installer skip the Microsoft account login. Worked great!", "excerpt": "Just last week I installed Windows 11 by downloading the ISO from Microsoft and creating a bootable USB stick with Rufus [1]. Rufus has options to make the Windows installer skip the Microsoft account login. Worked great! There are reasons to install Windows. For one, I had to install it for my wife, and making her switch to another OS she isn\u2019t used to would be quite a hassle. I also use it at work, and I need to ru", "context": "", "use_case": "bootable USB, skip MS account", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything"}, {"id": 741611840, "item_id": 46350740, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46350740", "by": "nfriedly", "date": "2025-12-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used Rufus to make a Windows 11 installer USB drive that bypasses the TPM check and online account setup", "excerpt": "I used Rufus to make a Windows 11 installer USB drive that bypasses the TPM check and online account setup and a couple of other things. I've been using that along with O&O Shut Up 10++, and Firefox with uBlock Origin to refresh computers for local folks. With the \"requirements\" check bypassed, Windows 11 actually runs on the Intel 1st gen Core i-series and newer, as well as any Ryzen CPU and, I think, a couple of ea", "context": "refreshes computers for local folks", "use_case": "create bypassed Windows 11 installer", "switched_from": "", "story": "I can't upgrade to Windows 11, now leave me alone"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "Grombobulous", "context": "Linux user, formerly Windows gamer", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48677809", "date": "2026-06-25"}, {"by": "nfriedly", "context": "refreshes computers for local folks", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46350740", "date": "2025-12-21"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["bypassing ms account on install", "disabling microsoft account requirement", "bootable usb, skip ms account", "create bypassed windows 11 installer"], "compared": [], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48533101", "title": "Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48675369", "title": "Windows 10 quietly gets one more year of support and updates", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46347108", "title": "I can't upgrade to Windows 11, now leave me alone", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 778844944, "item_id": 48677809, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48677809", "by": "Grombobulous", "date": "2026-06-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "", "excerpt": "Yeah, TPM and secure boot aren\u2019t a big deal at all. I use them on Linux as a security enhancement. Neither is the whole \u201cReact\u201d thing. Microsoft using web technologies that are compiled to native code is a sensible decision. It\u2019s a lot better than being completely unable to update the operating system at a reasonable pace like how Microsoft struggled for decades to modernize the control panel. No, the start menu does", "context": "Linux user, formerly Windows gamer", "use_case": "bypassing MS account on install", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows 10 quietly gets one more year of support and updates"}, {"id": 776641360, "item_id": 48540085, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48540085", "by": "Grombobulous", "date": "2026-06-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Toss your Windows 11 ISO into Rufus and disabling things like Microsoft account requirements is a trivial process.", "excerpt": "The other potentially obvious question is why bother using an OS that\u2019s out of support when Linux is so good? I left Windows 11. The last straw wasn\u2019t Microsoft accounts or Windows updates. I actually thought the OS was fine, most OS updates actually added great new features, and anything I considered an annoyance was easy to disable permanently. Toss your Windows 11 ISO into Rufus and disabling things like Microsoft", "context": "Left Windows 11 for Linux", "use_case": "disabling Microsoft account requirement", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything"}, {"id": 776609152, "item_id": 48538072, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48538072", "by": "zubspace", "date": "2026-06-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Rufus has options to make the Windows installer skip the Microsoft account login. Worked great!", "excerpt": "Just last week I installed Windows 11 by downloading the ISO from Microsoft and creating a bootable USB stick with Rufus [1]. Rufus has options to make the Windows installer skip the Microsoft account login. Worked great! There are reasons to install Windows. For one, I had to install it for my wife, and making her switch to another OS she isn\u2019t used to would be quite a hassle. I also use it at work, and I need to ru", "context": "", "use_case": "bootable USB, skip MS account", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything"}, {"id": 741611840, "item_id": 46350740, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46350740", "by": "nfriedly", "date": "2025-12-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used Rufus to make a Windows 11 installer USB drive that bypasses the TPM check and online account setup", "excerpt": "I used Rufus to make a Windows 11 installer USB drive that bypasses the TPM check and online account setup and a couple of other things. I've been using that along with O&O Shut Up 10++, and Firefox with uBlock Origin to refresh computers for local folks. With the \"requirements\" check bypassed, Windows 11 actually runs on the Intel 1st gen Core i-series and newer, as well as any Ryzen CPU and, I think, a couple of ea", "context": "refreshes computers for local folks", "use_case": "create bypassed Windows 11 installer", "switched_from": "", "story": "I can't upgrade to Windows 11, now leave me alone"}]}