Technically being able to opt out of a Microsoft account by solving a puzzle wrapped in a riddle that Microsoft changes every few months is as close to forced as their legal team is willing to go.

They make it close to impossible to install windows without making an account, you either need to mess around in the registry or run some weird Powershell commands in order to skip the account creation step. They do this because they know a non-technical person will just create an account instead. It's fucking bullshit and it is 100% intentional.

Actually, I discovered that, as long as the machine has a TPM and it is turned on, I can just set it (Win 11) up initially with a throwaway MS account. Then, I add local admin and user accounts and, using the admin account, I delete the MS account. I have done it many times now. It’s easier than all of the other crap trying to avoid that MS account.

this is not true, you can just create a local account with Windows 11 Pro and not use the online stuff at all.

I've recently had to reinstall Windows 10 and the screen that forces you to create an account is impossible to skip through normal means. I first tried registry hacks (commonly found in Google) only to find out that this method no longer works. I then tried the Powershell command (which is the same as for Windows 11) and this was the only thing that actually worked.

No, you can't. Not with any of the Consumer versions. You have to do the workarounds to not have your initial account be an online account.

Well they sure as hell make it difficult! I had to install Windows on a new PC and the "remove the ethernet cable" trick no longer worked.