AFAIK you can still use Windows 11 without an MS account. Similar to current new installs of Win10 it really wants you to push to using one, but doesn't entirely enforce it.
Source? That's definitely not what I've heard. Even in windows 10 you need a silly workaround. If you log into wifi when setting up you are forced to login. I had to reinstall and refuse to login to wifi. They patched that workaround out in windows 11 iirc.