Rufus 3.19 is the latest version of one of the best applications for creating bootable USB drives. Although it is still in beta, it has an extremely interesting new feature, as it will allow us to install another version of Windows 11 22H2 without a Microsoft account.

Since last month, Microsoft has introduced a mandatory Internet connection and Microsoft account if you want to install a trial version of Windows 11 22H2 Pro. If nothing changes, the final version will require it. While there are some tricks to get around them, its a big problem which many users will not like and which are added to the minimum hardware requirements, no less controversial. If you want Windows, that’s it.

Rufus 3.19

Free and open source, Rufus is ideal for creating bootable installation media. If there are other applications of the same quality for Linux distributions, it is unrivaled for Windows (in my opinion) and I recommend it whenever I have the opportunity, as you have seen in the guides and tutorials we publish.

Rufus 3.19 beta, released last weekend, allows skip account request from Microsoft (MSA) in Windows 11 22H2. This option will be part of and new selection dialog to customize Windows 11 settings in Rufus. In the same section, you can also uncheck TPM and Secure Boot, two options that were added in a previous test version.

Simply download the Windows 11 ISO image; create an installation media with the new Rufus options and install so that you are not connected to the Internet so that the installation program offers you the option to use a local account.

Microsoft account – local account

That must be said AND An online account has benefits such as better connectivity with Microsoft applications and cloud services, better synchronization with other computers, or access to features such as password reset from the cloud.

However, the local account has no minor benefitssuch as not connecting to Microsoft’s online identity, which can be hacked, and more privacy, one of the most controversial points of Windows 11, since Windows 10 has already been.

Otherwise, we cannot understand Microsoft’s urge to impose restrictions. You can highlight the benefits of your accounts, but transparently and without coercion, and let the user choose the one that suits them best.

You can download Rufus 3.19 from its GitHub repository