Technology

No, only in so far as the button to use it existing passively

No

And no

"But it turns out that, while this screenshot is indeed real, those eagle-eyed enough should already be able to tell that something isn't quite lining up here. In fact, nearly any Windows 11 user could open up the fully updated Notepad without getting this pop-up at all, even if they aren't already signed into a Microsoft account. So, what's the deal here?"

"The key is in the exact wording, identifiable within the first sentence: "Sign in with your Microsoft account to use Rewrite and its features in Notepad." This is a prompt that exists, yes, but one that's exclusive to Copilot+ PCs and explicitly requires the user to trigger it by clicking the Rewrite button, as confirmed by our own testing."

https://www.tomshardware.com/software/windows/no-notepad-for-windows-11-doesnt-require-you-to-use-a-microsoft-account-unless-youre-trying-to-use-ai

https://www.techradar.com/computing/windows/seen-those-complaints-online-about-having-to-sign-in-to-your-microsoft-account-to-use-windows-11s-notepad-app-its-all-a-load-of-hot-air

Please read the article. No. My access to notepad is not restricted. I also don't run any copilot features of any kind on windows 11. Yes, I believe Generative AI Copilot is enabled by default, but in this case the only time you get promoted to login is when you use a feature in notepad that directly needs copilot in order to work and you the user have to select that feature. Meaning you can use notepad without it entirely and never even see this prompt at all.

Microsoft is a tech giant with all the bad crap that implies. They do enough terrible things that we don't need to lie to make them look bad.