MICROSOFT BEGAN INSISTING on a login password with Windows 8,
as an additional safeguard against losing your data. With Windows 10,
Microsoft is raising the bar.
During the installation process, you’ll be asked for your Microsoft
username and password, the key that unlocks your data within
Microsoft’s ecosystem. But instead of using that password to log in every
session, Microsoft will encourage you to use a 4-digit PIN—treating your
PC, essentially, as a credit card. You’ll still have the option of using a
password, but a PIN is a much simpler option.
A second option, Microsoft Hello, is both simpler and more secure. Using
biometric security—either a fingerprint or your face—Hello will log you
in, automatically. Fingerprint readers are fairly rare outside corporate
machines, but the depth cameras needed for face recognition are rarer
still, found only in new PCs.
Still, Microsoft’s making Hello one of the features of their first
Windows 10 ads, and it’s not hard to see why. Windows Hello asks
you to put your face in its camera range for a few seconds to train it,
with your glasses on and off if necessary. After that, logging in is as
simple as approaching the PC with the camera active. If the camera
can see your face (with a Surface docking station, you may need to
lean down a bit) you’ll be launched into Windows 10, without
pushing a button.
We’ve tested Hello fairly extensively, and are convinced that this is
going to be one of Windows 10’s highlights, if you can find a PC with
Hello hardware installed. Setting up Hello and training it can be done
in less than a minute, and the login process is nearly instantaneous. I
did find that after taking a shower, dressing, and sitting down at my
PC, Hello failed to recognize me. It did one other time, as well. If this
happens, however, you can default to either a PIN or password and
proceed normally.
I tried snapping a selfie and holding it near the camera to try and
fool it, but that didn’t work. I’m not going to say that Hello is foolproof
and utterly secure, but I suspect you’re going to need some sort of a
mask to beat it.
Keep in mind that Hello is always looking out for you. To keep your
PC from watching constantly, turn Hello off in the Settings menu.
Meet the new-old Start menu
Windows 10 newcomers, Microsoft has a treat for you. Click the
Windows icon in the lower left corner, or tap the Windows key on the
keyboard. The new Start experience appears, combining elements of
both Windows 7 and Windows 8. You’ll find a list of your most
frequently used apps to the left, along with the tile-based Windows 8
approach to the right. The live tiles periodically rotate, refreshing
themselves with new updates. It’s a motif that was a little
overwhelming in Windows 8, but seems more appropriate in this
context.
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| The new Windows 10 Start screen: For some Windows 8 users, it will justify the upgrade all by itself. |
Right-clicking and pinning apps to the Start menu will be intuitive
for Windows 8 users, but it’s going to feel a little strange for longtime
Windows 7 devotees. You can’t manually add apps to the left-hand list;
Windows 10 picks those for you, based on your most frequently used
apps. Fortunately, you can also launch apps by typing their names into
the Cortana search box at the bottom left, or scrolling all the way
down the left-hand list to the tiny All Apps link.
Oddly, some apps don’t show up in the All Apps list—like Paint, the
venerable, quick-and-dirty image-editing app. I know it’s there, but
Windows 10 doesn’t show it to me. (You can find it in the Windows
Accessories folder.)
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| Still, Microsoft’s early vision for the Windows 10 Start screen honestly looked as good, or better, than the current version. Note the flexibility in adjusting the apps in the lefthand bar |
Microsoft will be judged on first impressions. However, not everyone
will find the new Start menu intuitive. The Get Started intro app
should probably be front and center to lead new users by the hand.
Tips pop up occasionally, offering guidance, and the familiar toolbar
sits at the bottom of the screen. There, you should see a row of icons
you’ll recognize: the Cortana search bar, followed by the new Task
View, an Internet Explorer-like Edge icon, and more. But the Edge icon
is the only visual hint that answers the critical question most new
users will ask: “So how do I get to the Internet?”
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