The latest Windows 11 preview build in the Beta Channel delivers a rather odd change to the Start menu. For some reason, the "Sign out" button is hidden behind a Microsoft 365 ad and other banners.
as soon as they require a microsoft account to use versions of windows, they are apple... minus the mobile, but plus a metric shittone of things apple doesnt.
not that any of that is good, microsoft should die in a fire.. but theyve spent 20 years building an OS-as-a-service platform and its coming to fruition. they might be slow, but rest assured they will get their captured, vertically integrated audience.
You don’t need an apple account to use a Mac.
If you just want to enter a username and set a password, that’s all you need to do. If you want everything synced between another Mac or iPhone and so on, sign into iCloud. But you don’t HAVE to, just skip it.