Microsoft thinks passwords are so yesterday; brings new authentication method

Microsoft is one the companies that think the passwords will be a thing in the past and is truly poised to build something more secure to authenticate Windows 10. And with the latest Insider preview - build 17093 - Microsoft has started testing a new feature that makes Windows 10 an operating system without password.

The new system relies on the Authenticator app available on Android and iOS to make passwords look outdated. It is currently available for users in the Fast ring and the ones running Windows 10S. The authenticator app allows users to authorize or block any request, and the company says that passwords will be completely removed from the operating system.

"With the changes in this build, your Windows 10 S PC will automatically make your experience password-free. You will notice that if you have Windows Hello set up, you won't see passwords anywhere in the Windows experience - not on the unlock screen nor in Sign-in options," the firm says.

A password-less experience will be easy and will allow users to take advantage of the out-of-the-box experience. Users just have to configure Windows Hello and also the app to authenticate the user. After this, you will no longer need the password to use the operating system.

The company has only released this new feature for Windows 10 S users because the system needs to be tested thoroughly before rolling out for mass consumption. Microsoft will first collect feedback from a limited number of users, and depending on the response of the users, the feature will further be rolled out for everyone.

Also, the Windows 10 S will soon be integrated into Windows 10 as "S Mode," and will no longer be available as a standalone SKU. This also indicates that the password-less experience will be available for all users, and will most like see the light of day after the rollout of Redstone 4 update in the spring.

Besides, the company also announced the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Deep Neural Networks (DNN) to improve real-time language translation for Hindi, Bengali, and Tamil.

As per Microsoft, the technology will help users in getting results that are more accurate and natural while surfing the internet across any website on the Microsoft Edge browser, on Bing search and Bing Translator website.