I doubt that Microsoft has a kill switch. Though through automatic updates they still have pretty strong sabotage capabilities.

But the OS is not where Microsofts power lies. Its in exchange (almost everywhere cloud managed, including for many governments) and SharePoint, with a small amount of teams, where Microsoft is truly a scary prospect for sovereignty.

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codedokode a day ago | parent | next [-]

They have the kill switch, it is called a "cloud account". Nowadays you need a valid cloud (MS-controlled) account to log into your computer.

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Aperocky a day ago | parent [-]

Haven't used Windows in almost a decade, has it gotten that bad?

I can't log on to a windows computer if the cloud account don't exist? What if there's no internet?

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d3Xt3r a day ago | parent | next [-]

It caches your credentials so you can still login offline. But you do need to be online when you're logging into your PC for the first time, post-install.

There are some unofficial hacks to bypass the online account requirement, but MS have been actively stamping these out. Now the current situation isn't like it's impossible to bypass this, mind you (as far as I'm aware there's at least a couple of workarounds), but normal users won't know/care and will end up just creating an online account.

	▲	sirjaz a day ago \| parent [-]
		If you have pro or enterprise you can still setup a local account. It is home edition that is the issue

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1718627440 a day ago | parent | prev [-]

> What if there's no internet?

Surely that is something only criminal would say.

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smodo a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The kill switch is M365 account management. You take that offline, many SME’s and local governments just stop working. At least for a while.

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karussell a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> pretty strong sabotage capabilities

Via updates they can install and run anything they want ... aka 'kill switch'.

	▲	rocqua 12 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Not quite. Because that requires pushing an update and only hits those who have windows automatic updates enabled. A lot of companies run those updates on a slight delay, which means they have a decent enough window to block such an update. Microsoft is a big thing to worry about when it comes to independence from the emerging fascist government of the US. But not because 'they can shut off windows'. The short-term fear should be in enterprise cloud (See ICC judges). The long-term pain lies in blocking security updates (As happened to Russia). One might worry about malicious updates being pushed, but the legal grounds for that are flimsy to non-existent, and Microsoft has very strong business reasons to push back. So even the trump administration would be smart enough to instead target the cloud solutions. Since the legal precedent is very clear and well lubricated "providing services to sanctioned entities", and the business impact is equally crippling.

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1718627440 a day ago | parent | prev [-]

They absolutely have. They force upgrade computers to Windows 11, which then won't boot, because the system doesn't actually support it. I guess they also have a smoother way to achieve that. They are also cases where an update broke the booting process, so the bitlocker key was lost. Everything is encrypted with it by default, and the only copy sits on a MS server connected with you MS account. Guess what happens when they say sorry, we can't just give you that key...