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Windows 10's Biometric Security Layer Introduced
jones_supa writes: One of the major concepts of Windows 10 are new security ideas, and though Microsoft has touched on this topic before, it's only now giving us a more comprehensive look in the form of "Windows Hello." This is an authentication system that uses a variety of biometric 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 at or touch a new device running Windows 10 and to be immediately signed in. The software analyzes input from such hardware as fingerprint scanners and infrared sensors to make sure that you are you and not some impostor, and then signs you in without requiring you to enter 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 offer a widely-deployed replacement while still delivering enterprise grade security and privacy.
The Microsoft account is optional. I don't use it. Please update your FUD accordingly.
yo have to go to something that looks like a failure state before you can create a local account. fucking ridiculous.
Not quite. It prompts you to sign in with your existing Microsoft account. At the bottom of that screen, it says "Don't have one? And a link to "create a new account".
Contextually that, for a lot of people is interpreted to mean "Create a new Microsoft account" however, if you click it you are presented with an account creation page for a Microsoft account but at the bottom it offers another link "Sign in without a Microsoft account" and you can create a local account from there.
The fail state you refer to is the -other- way of reaching the same page -- where you enter dummy microsoft credentials in; force it to fail to login; and that lands you on a page where you can create a local account as well.
However, the "proper" way to reach the local account option is the first:
Create new Account
Sign in without a Microsoft account
So its not as bad you suggest, I agree it's just obscure enough to be misleading.
For what its worth a lot of OEMs are shipping with a local user account pre-configured or are otherwise customizing it to create a local account by default.