All articles tagged with #oobe
Microsoft engineers, including Scott Hanselman, are pushing to remove the mandatory Microsoft account sign-in during Windows 11’s out-of-box experience, with a plan to streamline setup and reduce upsells; a rollout timeline hasn’t been disclosed.
Microsoft’s March 2026 Windows 11 Insider roundup adds a customizable user folder name during setup (OOBE), improved enterprise debloat policy, a new Point-in-time restore page in Recovery, a kernel driver-enforcement approach with an initial monitoring period for WHCP-signed drivers, and other tweaks such as renaming Drag Tray to Drop Tray, updated Pen settings, Voice Typing in File Explorer, and re-enabled Administrator Protection to strengthen elevation flows as Windows trends toward a more secure, configurable experience.
Microsoft is testing a Windows 11 Dev Channel feature that adds a Device Name option during the out-of-box experience (OOBE), allowing users to specify a custom Windows user folder name instead of the default first five characters of their Microsoft account email. If you skip the step, Windows will continue using the old naming scheme. The feature targets power users and is currently in Insider testing, with a broad rollout likely months away.
Microsoft is tightening restrictions on workarounds that allow users to set up Windows 11 with local accounts, removing known methods in the latest Dev channel update to prevent bypassing the Microsoft account sign-in requirement during setup.
ChromeOS 125 introduces new out-of-box experience (OOBE) pages for Chromebook Plus devices, highlighting AI features such as Help me write, AI wallpapers, and AI backgrounds. The setup also includes a dedicated page for the Gemini chatbot, which is now available as a pinned app and comes with a free one-year subscription to Gemini Advanced as part of the Google One AI Premium plan.