Back in December, a consortium of tech companies adopted a new standard meant to usher in a more secure future without the hassle of passwords. On Friday, Microsoft announced that Windows 10 will incorporate those specifications, enabling exciting new biometric security features. Good job, Microsoft!
The standard in question is the next version of the Fast Identification Online (FIDO) specification. It’s designed “to make authentication simpler and stronger for all.” This means that the smart folks designing useful things like fingerprint readers and iris scanners can now rest assured that their technology will work with the latest version of the world’s most popular operating system. Of course FIDO is only as useful as it is prevalent, and inclusion on Windows 10 is a big step towards ubiquity. We might not be done with passwords quite yet, but we’re making progress. [Microsoft via The Verge]