Microsoft brings passwordless sign-in option to Windows 10 preview

[midian182]

In brief: Microsoft has spent years calling for the death of the password, and it moved another step closer to that goal in the latest Windows 10 preview for Fast Ring Insiders.

The Redmond firm has announced a number of new features in Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18936, the most significant being an option to “make your devices passwordless.”

By going to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options and toggling the passwordless switch, all Microsoft accounts on that device will use Windows Hello face recognition, fingerprints, PIN codes, or physical keys only.

The company writes that those who don’t have Windows Hello set up will be walked through the process next time they sign in. It adds that the feature is being rolled out to a small portion of Insiders, so the option may not appear for all users in Settings. If it’s not there, Microsoft advises checking again in a week or so.

Partly because so many people still use terrible passwords such as “123456,” Microsoft started calling for them to be killed off in favor of Windows Hello back in 2017. It moved closer to that goal in May when its authentication system received FIDO2 certification. Additionally, the firm got rid of its password expiration policy this year, admitting that forcing users to change their passwords every so often is ineffective.

Other changes in the latest Windows release include the Your Phone screen feature working with more Surface devices, being able to create calendar events straight from the taskbar, and several minor changes, improvements, and fixes.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/80898-microsoft-brings-passwordless-sign-option-windows-10-preview.html

 

[Kibaruk]

That's a pretty neat feature, I hope they bring along options to start stuff by typing in "commands" as you would in a browser, like "timer 30 minutes" or "add appointment for July 30 at 3pm" and not having to go through the UI to have those things done.

 

[retsxel]

No thank you. A PROPERLY structured password is still much more secure than any biometric device a laptop can use.

 

[mbrowne5061]

That's a pretty neat feature, I hope they bring along options to start stuff by typing in "commands" as you would in a browser, like "timer 30 minutes" or "add appointment for July 30 at 3pm" and not having to go through the UI to have those things done.

This is what Cortana should have been from the start. They should have added in internet-connected functions and voice search as optional features as they went, not try to push them out the gate.

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

No thank you. A PROPERLY done password is still much more secure than any biometric device a laptop can use.

Exactly... plus your biometric data can't be easily changed; I.e. your fingerprints, your facial structure, your voice, etc. But you can easily change your password should it be compromised. If a hacker gets your biometric data, you're screwed and potentially just gave them access to anything else that is accessible using your biometric data.

 

[netman]

For Windows Hello face recognition you most likely have to buy new webcam!

 

[Athlonite]

Whats the difference between a pin and a password basically nothing you still have to type them in

want true passwordless sign in go to users accounts sing in select Local account and just don't put in a password but that would defeat the purpose of security right

why doesn't Windows 10 use two forms say a pin and bio-metric data (be it facial rec or fingerprint)

 

[Deevo324]

What's going on? I already have this feature, it came with 1903.

 

[Darth Shiv]

No thank you. A PROPERLY done password is still much more secure than any biometric device a laptop can use.

Exactly... plus your biometric data can't be easily changed; I.e. your fingerprints, your facial structure, your voice, etc. But you can easily change your password should it be compromised. If a hacker gets your biometric data, you're screwed and potentially just gave them access to anything else that is accessible using your biometric data.

Yep biometrics for security are simply retarded. People pushing this to be the way forward are sending us into a hole that won't be anywhere near as easy to dig out of as updating password policy and resetting passwords.

 

[theUnforgiven]

If M$ doesn't like humans to "use terrible passwords", why doesn't it just tell the humans it is a weak password and they should choose a better one? How many other applications has that feature now? Yet a multi billion dollar company can't do it? please

 

[DelJo63]

It will be interesting to see how M$ performs Print/File Sharing with homogeneous systems {aka Linux, Unix, Mac} , as Win/10 already has difficulty using a PIN. Ports 135/137/139/445 for SMB sharing are incompatible with PINs.