Windows 10 brings death of passwords a step closer

Microsoft’s betting the farm on Windows 10 but is it going to be enough to exorcise the ghosts of Windows 8?

Microsoft is bringing back the Start menu, and redesigning it, in Windows 10.

Of all the aspects of Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows 10, the death of the password is perhaps the most exciting. It’s not that passwords will become extinct when Windows 10 launches tomorrow, but we are getting darn close.

The new Windows Hello feature lets you log in with biometrics: there’s fingerprint, face and iris recognition; and newer mobile devices will increasingly offer hardware for this. You can also buy a fingerprint reader and ­retrofit it.

Alternatively, Intel’s RealSense 3D F200 camera is compatible with Hello and you can login by staring at the camera or flashing your eyes at it. And no, you can’t show it a photo of your ex to hack their computer.

On a less welcome note, you can’t retrofit the camera, which Intel plans to sell solely to developers. The rest of us will need to buy a new device.

The point of Hello is that, once you’re authenticated, it will unlock the Microsoft Passport feature that offers secure access to applications both on your device and online, without further logins. Developers are being encouraged to incorporate Passport authentication into their code.

In addition there is Device Guard, a feature which is designed to prevent Windows running applications that are not from trusted software vendors, or not signed off by your business as approved applications.

Hello, Passport and Device Guard are not just about convenience; this is the empire striking back against hackers. They can still use phishing and other techniques to infiltrate networks, but the internet and your device’s data will be far more secure.

Security isn’t the only thing that makes upgrading to Windows 10 a no-brainer. It’s fast, more efficient, and non-enterprise Windows 7 and 8.1 users get it for nix over the next 12 months.

Microsoft has gone some way to redress the sins of its “Noah’s ark” Windows 8 OS. I say Noah’s ark, because Windows 8 gave us two of everything: two interfaces (desktop and Metro/Modern) two internet Explorer browsers, two ways of installing applications (conventionally and via the Store) and even two control panels for settings.

Whereas Apple neatly drew a line with one operating system (OS X) designed for Macs and another (iOS) for phones and tablets, the Windows 8 delineation has proved to be messy. The traditional Windows desktops on laptops often look small and awkward, while those modern tiles are wasted real estate on traditional PCs.

But this is less so in Windows 10. The square tiles are an extended menu system rather than alternative desktop and they automatically highlight your most used apps. There’s also a powerful search function. Metro apps and desktop applications run side-by-side in resizeable windows, and you can switch between multiple desktops.

In the new Edge browser, you can scrawl or type on web pages to highlight information, save those pages to OneNote and share them with ease.

You can email these annotated web pages and share them on social networks. It enhances online collaboration.

Reading List/View within Edge brings to Windows a feature we’ve seen on Apple devices: reading a web page without the distracting clutter. You can also save web pages and PDF files for offline reading. Microsoft plans other Edge features through regular updates. It also plans a web-based extension model that uses JavaScript and HTML.

Edge also makes use of Microsoft’s personal assistant Cortana, which Microsoft says it will tailor to each country’s needs. Cortana won’t be part of the Australian Windows 10 at launch tomorrow but an Australian Cortana will be part of the Windows Insider Program in coming months.

Apart from answering general questions, and fulfilling requests such as show me next week’s appointments, Cortana’s strength is its ability to learn. It will work out where you live by noting where you regularly start the day, and where you work based on where you regularly commute. After time it will volunteer instructions on the most efficient way to work.

Cortana can be unique to you as it has a built-in notebook where you can finetune its behaviour. This gives you some control on the types of information it shows you. You can tell it what news topics interests you and the types of restaurant you like.

The enterprise features of Windows 10 are likely to make it a hit with businesses. They address high-end security needs, identity protection, data encryption, and offer sophisticated digital rights management.

At a system level you can stop files being read outside an organisation, copied, read after a certain date, or from being read should they fall into the wrong hands. Enterprise data can be stored in secure containers and separated at the application and file level.

In the past businesses tended to panic when Windows updates implemented new features without that organisation first testing it. Now businesses can delay new features while letting through ­security updates using “Windows Update for Business”.

Organisations can control which devices are updated first, and schedule the rest. Instead of wiping a PC before installing Windows 10 or new versions, an IT department can install incremental updates. They can tailor a Windows app store to their needs and, where bandwidth is an issue, install patches across an organisation using peer-to-peer delivery.

Mobile device management control will apply across the board to enterprise-owned PCs, tablets and phones as well as bring-your-own devices.

Windows 10 is Microsoft’s mea culpa for the botch it made of Windows 8. Given the growing prevalence of hacking, it will be especially welcomed by enter­prises. As for the death of passwords, it’s a definitive step in the right direction.

Biggest event of the year

Microsoft will tomorrow release what could be its last version of ­Windows.

In arguably the biggest computing event of the year, it will start implementing an ambitious plan to have Windows 10 installed on one billion devices globally.

Part of that plan involves giving it away. Users running Windows 7 or 8.1 will have 12 months to download and install the new operating system.

In ­recent days, Windows users have received notifications inviting them to do just that.

Windows 10 features include better integration of the trad­itional desktop with Microsoft’s tiled interface, a new Edge brow­ser that lets you scrawl or type on web pages to highlight information, new gestures, multiple desktops and powerful searches.

But Windows 10 is more than a laundry list of new features. It fundamental changes computing.