<i>Even every laptop off the shelf doesn&#x27;t have such a requirement.</i><p>While Windows activation can be done offline, for all practical purposes it + Windows Update requires you to be online.<p>I help an older lady with her technical struggles. Recently she moved into a retirement home and does not currently have internet access for her laptop. Microsoft Office started bitching about it being an illegal copy presumably because it could not phone home and verify her license. Sigh.