If more than one person — one account — is set up on the computer, you have to choose which person will log in. I go into detail about setting up user accounts in Book 2, Chapter 4.
If a password’s associated with the account, you must type it into the computer. Windows allows different kinds of passwords, which are particularly helpful if you’re working on a touch-only tablet or a tiny screen like a telephone’s. But the idea’s the same: Unless you specifically set up an account without a password, you need to confirm your identity.
Only after clearing those three hurdles are you granted access to the desktop and, from there, to everything Windows 10 has to offer. In the sections that follow, you find out how you can customize the lock screen and the login methods to suit yourself.
WHAT’S NEW IN WINDOWS HELLO
Windows Hello gives an additional method for confirming your identity. Windows Hello uses biometric authentication — scanning your face or fingerprint or one day scanning your iris — as a much more secure method than passwords.
The camera version of Windows Hello technology has not hit the mainstream — Microsoft’s Surface devices can log you in by recognizing your face, and a few high-end laptops also have the capability, but it’s not common. Even expensive laptops with built-in cameras frequently skip that part of Windows Hello. There isn’t that much demand — and many people get freaked out knowing their computer is watching, to log them in.
The fingerprint version of Windows Hello has become fairly common — many Windows computers with a recent fingerprint sensor use Hello.
These are the best-known laptops that support Windows Hello facial recognition: Alienware 15, Dell Inspiron 15 5570, ASUS ZenBook Duo, HP Spectre x360, Lenovo Miix 720, Samsung Notebook 9 Pro 15, and all Microsoft Surface family models after Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book 2, including the Surface Laptop. You can buy an add-on RealSense camera that’ll support Windows Hello, but it’s expensive.
Many devices support fingerprint recognition, but the specific kind of recognition demanded by Hello, once again, isn’t common.
Only time will tell if Hello is reliable enough (and the hardware cheap enough!) to make a dent in the market.
If you have a pre-Windows 10 camera or fingerprint reader, chances are very good it won’t work with Windows Hello. Many more details are in Microsoft’s lengthy Passport guide, at https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/itpro/windows/keep-secure/microsoft-passport-guide. (Passport is an on-again, off-again Microsoft brand that’s being folded into Windows Hello.)
Working with the Lock Screen
The very first time you start Windows, and anytime you shut it down, restart, or let the machine go idle for long enough, you’re greeted with the lock screen, such as the one in Figure 2-1.
FIGURE 2-1: The Windows 10 lock screen.
You can get through the lock screen by doing any of the following:
Swiping up with your finger, if you have a touch-sensitive display.
Clicking with your mouse.
Pressing any key on your keyboard.
You aren’t stuck with the lock screen Microsoft gives you. You can customize your picture and the little icons (or badges). The following sections explain how.
Using your own picture
Changing the picture for your lock screen is easy. (See the nearby sidebar “Individualized lock screens” for details about the difference between your lock screen and the system’s lock screen.) Customizing the picture is a favorite trick at Windows 10 demos, so you know it must be easy, right? Here’s how:
1 Click or tap the Start icon, the Settings icon, and then Personalization.
2 On the left, choose Lock Screen.The lock screen's Preview window appears.
3 From the Background drop-down list, first try Windows Spotlight, if it’s available (see Figure 2-2).FIGURE 2-2: Change your lock screen here.Windows Spotlight images come directly from Microsoft — more specifically, from Bing — and change frequently. Microsoft reserves the right to put advertising on Windows Spotlight screens, ostensibly to tell you about features in Windows 10 that you haven’t used yet. Remains to be seen whether other, uh, partners can purchase spots on the screen.
4 From the Background drop-down list, choose Picture.This selection (see Figure 2-3) lets you choose which picture will appear. If you like one of the pictures on offer, click it. If you’d rather find your own picture, click Browse.You can decide whether you want your chosen picture to be overlaid with “fun facts, tips, tricks, and more on your lock screen.” Oh goodie.
5 If you find a picture you want, click it. If not, choose Slideshow in the Background drop-down box.This option ties into the Albums in the Windows 10 Photos app (see Book 4, Chapter 3), or you can choose to turn a folder of pictures into a slideshow. If you decide to go with a slideshow, click the Advanced Slideshow Settings link to set whether the slideshow can be pulled from your camera roll, whether the chosen pictures have to be large enough to fit your screen, and several additional choices.FIGURE 2-3: Choose your own picture, with or without Microsoft advertising.INDIVIDUALIZED LOCK SCREENSIf you read the Microsoft help documentation, you may think that Windows 10 keeps one lock screen for all users, but it doesn’t. Instead, it has a lock screen for each individual user and one more lock screen for the system as a whole.If you’re using the system and you lock it — say, tap your picture on the Start menu and choose Lock — Windows 10 shows your personal lock screen, with the badges you’ve chosen. If you swipe or drag to lift that lock screen, you’re immediately asked to provide your password. There’s no intervening step to ask which user should log in.If, instead of locking the system when you leave it, you tap your picture and choose Sign Out, Windows 10 behaves quite differently. It shows the system’s lock screen, with the system’s badges. Your lock screen and badges are nowhere to be seen. If you drag or swipe to go through the lock screen, you’re asked to choose which user will log in.Bottom line: If you change your lock screen using the techniques in this chapter, you change only your lock screen. Windows’ idea of a lock screen stays the same.
6 After you’ve chosen the background itself, you can specify what apps should provide details that appear on the lock screen. See the next section for details about Badges.You’re finished. There’s no Apply or OK button to tap or click.
Test to make sure that your personal lock screen has been updated. The easiest way is to go to the Start menu, click your picture in the upper-left corner, and choose Lock or Sign Out.
Adding and removing apps on the lock screen
Badges are the little icons that appear at the bottom of the lock screen. They exist to tell you something about your computer at a glance, without having to log in — how many email messages are unread, whether your battery needs charging, and so on. Some badges just appear on the lock screen, no matter what you do. For example, if you have an Internet connection, a badge appears on