JimUBC

I’ve been using the Windows Picture Password since I got my first Surface and since then on all my other touch screen enabled computers.  Intuitively I trusted the Picture Passwords right from the start and I just found a great article about the art, science and security thinking behind it.  I’m feeling even more secure after reading the article.

The experience of signing in to your PC with touch has traditionally been a cumbersome one. In a world with increasingly strict password requirements—with numbers, symbols, and capitalization—it can take upwards of 30 seconds to enter a long, complex password on a touch keyboard. We have a strong belief that your experience with Windows 8 should be both fast and fluid, and that starts when you sign in.

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Enjoy this.

If you want to skip straight to a tutorial see Signing in with a picture password.

Signing in with a picture password

With a picture password, you can sign in to your PC with your favourite photo instead of a hard-to-remember password. You choose the picture, which gestures—circles, straight lines, or taps—you use, and where on the picture you trace them. You can draw a picture password directly on a touchscreen with your finger, or you can use a mouse to draw your shapes. Everyone who has a Microsoft account on your PC can set up their own picture password.

To set up a picture password

1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, and then tap Change PC settings.
   (If you’re using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, click Settings, and then click Change PC settings.)
2. Tap or click Accounts, and tap or click Sign-in options.
3. Under Picture password, tap or click Add.
4. Sign in with your Microsoft account info, then follow the steps on the screen to choose a picture and pick your gestures.