I just installed a copy of Pro last week, and was able to make a local account just fine. It’s hidden in the corner under what looks like regular text, but is actually a link (versus the big button to use a MS account). And a few more screens in, they’ll ask again with the same small link in the corner. And I think it asked one more time before finishing.

Dark patterns abound. It’s horrible, but there are ways around it. For reference, this is in the US (if it matters).

I installed a 21H1 Pro version just yesterday. On the user creation screen the local account is still hidden behind a "Domain join instead" button where you can actually use a local account. Of course most people at home would actually actively stay away from that button thinking it must lead to some enterprise IT voodoo.

I don't "do" Windows any more, except that it's installed on the company laptop. I do all of my work on a Mac, and gaming on a PS. So I am watching these Windows 11 threads with a lot of amusement. The fact that Microsoft is playing games with this -- such that you can't be sure what's happening, even on their "pro" SKU -- is telling.

I did an install of Windows 10 Pro N on a Mac Pro a couple weeks ago (followed this guide: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/opencore-on-the-mac-pro..., search for "Installing Windows and Linux " section).

The Mac was connected to the Internet, I had to do a couple of clicks during the setup to create a local account but it was easy enough to do - I had not searched beforehand and I hadn't set up a Windows machine in the last five years or so.

Side note for fellow people willing to run W10 on Mac Pro's, two things: the multi-socket variants won't run on the Home edition, you need the Professional edition, and if you're using Opencore you will need to enable the OpenShell EFI shell as you'll need to run bootmgfw.efi once from the UEFI shell.