Technology

One of the major features in Windows 10 is the way Microsoft addresses security, user accounts and sign-on options, and though the company has touched on this topic before, it’s only now giving us a more comprehensive look in the form of Windows Hello.

Windows Hello is an authentication system that uses a variety of bio-metric signatures and combines hardware and software to allow for seamless and secure user recognition and sign-in. According to Microsoft, the ideal scenario here would be for you to simply look or touch a new device running Windows 10 and to be immediately signed up.

Windows Hello relies on common hardware, but takes everything to the next level: fingerprint scanners, cameras with infrared sensors and so on. The software analyses input from such hardware to confirm your identity and then signs you in, without requiring you to remember a password.

But the point of Windows Hello isn’t only convenience, as the company’s blog post notes, but also security. We’ve heard time and time again how insecure passwords are, and Microsoft is aiming to replace them completely, while still offering enterprise-grade security and privacy. The company is looking at health organisations, defence contractors and financial institutions as the primary beneficiaries from Windows Hello. but that’s not to say that regular users won’t benefit as well.

Alongside Windows Hello Microsoft is also launching Passport, a system designed to replace passwords by using personal devices such as smartphones or wearable’s for authentication into enterprise systems and online content. Both Passport and Hello will be open to developers and OEM’s to implement in devices and services.

We’ll have to wait and see how convenient and secure Microsoft’s new services are, but they definitely sound intriguing.

Source: Windows Hello: Microsoft is making the password obsolete in Windows 10.

Microsoft will allow Windows pirates to upgrade to Windows 10, but it’s likely still hoping to get them to pay. Microsoft tells The Verge that people with pirated copies of Windows will still be considered to have unofficial copies after the update. If they want to go official, they can — they’ll just have to get it through the Windows Store. “We will provide a mechanism for non-genuine Windows 10 PC devices to ‘get genuine’ via the new Windows Store, whether they are upgraded versions of Windows or purchased,” a Microsoft spokesperson says. Microsoft notes that its upgrade practice will be consistent globally.

There’s been confusion around the offer to pirates since Microsoft first discussed it yesterday. It was originally reported that pirates will be able to upgrade for free, but Microsoft has declined to explicitly confirm this. It certainly sounds like pirates will be able to upgrade to Windows 10 at no cost — the alternative, that they could pay to upgrade to a copy of Windows that still isn’t considered genuine, would be strange — but it’s quite possible that Microsoft will include some restrictions on unofficial copies that have yet to be mentioned. It could be a limited offer, include a trial period, or have some other promotion around acquiring a genuine license.

Presently, people running pirated copies of Windows are not presented with major restrictions. They still receive critical security updates and are only blocked from receiving what Microsoft calls “optional updates or benefits” — it lists its free security suite as an example. Pirated copies of Windows may also have their desktop turn black once an hour as a prompt is displayed informing the user that they aren’t running a genuine copy. Presumably, similar limitations will continue for pirated copies of Windows 10 in order to drive upgrades, but we’ll have to wait longer to find out whether other factors will be in play.

Source: Microsoft will let pirates update to Windows 10, but it likely still wants them to pay | The Verge.