And when that gets patched in another 6-12 months time? This is the problem with "accepting" that level of DRM on the flimsy grounds that you can "workaround" it, those workarounds may simply not be there in future versions.

I never said I accepted it, in fact I don't agree with it. You are assuming it may not be there(the workaround) but nobody knows what the future holds. For example we are assuming we will be alive tomorrow but you never know.

The online activation that is there since XP is already DRM, Windows hasn't been DRM-free for a very long time, it doesn't needs an Ms account for that.

The end task method is faster but it belongs to the more "hackish" methods I mention

OP makes it sound like Win 10 is somehow "not DRM." But it 100% is too.

Win 10 sends data about all of of your hardware to MS, where that data is stored on MS's servers forever, whether you like it or not.

That's why you don't need to re-activate Win 10 when you reinstall it on a system where it already was installed: because the OS "phones home" to MS automatically and without informing the user, and confirms whether or not your hardware IDs match the ones on MS' servers.

Not to mention all the so-called "telemetry data" that Windows 10 also collects and sends to MS, with no way to disable all of it.

I'm not defending the news described in the OP. That news is appalling. I am merely pointing out that Win 10 is just as bad.

Honestly don’t get the uproar.
If Win10’s telemetry hasn’t driven you away, what difference does having an official MS account make?
Online activation has been needed since XP anyway.

If privacy is really important, a Linux install with Wine seems the only sensible alternative. Not Win10. If you really do want an Arch derivative, I’d personally give EndeavourOS a shot too.

That would drive me away from Windows completely (given in don't misunderstand it).
Less because of the account and more because i want to have the chance to block/disable the data transfers i don't approve of (as far as possible at least) before connecting to the internet for the first time.
I'm already used to linux using a dual boot setup for almost a decade now which always tempted me a bit to no longer deal with MS' bs, but even if i didn't needing an internet connection for first setup would drive me to switch immidiately and I would refuse to install windows on other peoples PCs as well in the future (meaning friends and family).

Good thing then my gaming PC with a RTX 2060, 16GB RAM, Ryzen 3600 X and 1TB HD doesn't meet the minimum requirement for upgrading to Win 11 according to Microsoft's upgrade tool.

What does it say is missing?

My Ryzen 2600 desktop runs 11 just fine?
Is your HD “spinning rust”? If so, you must have the patience of an angel. I couldn’t run 10 without an SSD. Way too slow.

It's a good thing most games work on Linux these days.

It's not just in software and not just for profit, security or data (data can be obtained with a reasonable aim, and some telemetry is just a dev tool). I think now is a culture, a sort of reflex: not to offer the customer something (under conditions, of course) but to act the other way around, deciding a product will have just x kinds of way of using it. That's psychology at this point: a habit of limiting others as a way to assert yourself. Bad.

Okay, but why bother with all these extra steps? Not everyone is a network administrator or guru. It'd be simpler to just install Linux and...mazeltov, that's it. No bothersome jumping though hoops with third party apps just to avoid a big ugly stick that's become an ugly bramble though the years.

Makes me wish Microsoft would openly admit they want to cut off the consumer branch and stick strictly to Enterprise.

It can be pretty hard to convince people from changing something they're used to.

There is a lot more hoops to jump to have drivers and games works fine on Linux than spending 2 extra minutes during the install of Windows to bypass the account. I have used Linux for more than 30 years and yet, even when it was my main OS, I used and continue to use a Windows partition for games specifically because I don't want to jump trough all sort of bothersome hoops.

I don't think people understand that this requirement is only for the windows insider program(WIP) and not for the general windows 11 pro version.

I doubt it'll stay there though.
I always like to be positively surprised but until then I'll stay pessimistic. It matches with reality more often.