Truly. I was looking for a privacy respecting Chromium-based browser to use for Web MiniDisc (https://web.minidisc.wiki/) and came across some enthusiastic praise for Arc. I downloaded it and it immediately wanted me to create an account to even use it. How can that possibly respect my privacy? It went right in the trash.
Another strange thing about the account... They have a little section under "Security" FAQ (lol) that says:
>"Why does Arc require an account to use?"
The answer is:
>"Here's a link to our forum that explains the rationale behind requiring an account to use Arc: Why do I need an account?"
That link goes to here: https://resources.arc.net/hc/en-us/articles/19401542261911-B...
Which... Doesn't explain why you need an account!
They want an easy path to onboard you into paying for stuff.
Windows is practically login-walled[0] at this point so I imagine people are slowly getting to expect it.
[0] witness the magic incantations needed https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/install-windows-11-witho...
Hilariously (in the absurd way), this affects my girlfriend, who prefers and uses the Microsoft account feature AND onedrive exactly how Microsoft would hope she would, and STILL gets fucked by their stupidity.
Her laptop has a mediatek wifi card that doesn't have built in Windows drivers. Re-installing Windows requires you play the above game, so you can get into Windows, install the driver, and then immediately log into Microsoft.com.
What is also strange that I only found out about account after download. Like it was standard thing for the browser. (Sure there are optional accounts in others but login-walled browser?)