Robin. All the hype is confusing. Will we able to continue with our passwords? Linux does not currently support all the extras. And current passkey technology is proprietary, specific to an individual device and not durable across changes to device state. Historical Microsoft customers included individual professional users who were not the property of large employers and institutions that have Microsoft Entra accounts. I'm sure the wise elders at Microsoft have already taken this into account. It would be useful to know what Microsoft's plans are for non proprietary customers going forward.
Deleted Thanks! Yes, passwords still work for consumer Microsoft accounts that have them.
no, it doesn't work. i remember all the passwords and i got this problem. it is really annoying.
because what happens, first i want to access to my local files that has been shared by a different account that i used for ONEDRIVE, but I CANNOT because nowadys, onedrive does not support local files and it redirects you to EXPLORER (EDGE OR CHROME) like this:
then when i want to enter on the explorer, it asks me for password, i enter password and i get this result:
then i go back, and tell another way of access (the only one that i suposse to have is to send me a code to the same email of the address that is linked to onedrive).
then i want to access to the email and it is the same result. the same. you can't access because it asks you to send a code to the email of backup of that account. HORRIBLE.
or you just don't receive the email. it is stupid. i cannot access due to these problems.
Still, passkeys are no better. At least an email adress is accessible. Passkeys require you to have your phone around when you try to log into a PC.
Restating the question in a different way: Will passwords be available for new accounts after July 1, 2025? Independent users are not necessarily casual users, and account needs are not simplistic. This goes beyond cross platform portability. Timely account access and recovery in the event of a lost device is a fundamental requirement. And I've yet to see microsoft present a reliable recovery method for a proprietary passkey on a proprietary device that is as universal as a password. So far, Microsoft's implementation of secure shell public/private keypairs has been proprietary 1st and reliable 2nd. For example, it sometimes becomes necessary to reset a Windows device and download the OS from the internet. How to recover the account quickly? From where does someone aquire the necessary passkey? The average consumer does not enjoy tech support, or have the expertise to work this through in a timely manner.
Hello friends, appreciate all of the feedback and concerns raised, lots of great questions. I encourage you all to follow the Microsoft announcements and blogs on the topic of Passkeys which we are continuing to publish.
To clarify with regards to the UX changes in this announcement, for Microsoft account users, we still support passwords and other forms of authentication, including two step verification and passwordless authentication with an app. Users may choose. For users who do enroll passkeys on their Microsoft account, our goal is to make it easier for them to sign in by detecting and offering the choice to use that passkey, according to FIDO standards.
The UX changes referred to in this article are about creation of new Microsoft accounts where new customers may use an existing email address, including one they have from Google, Yahoo or another provider. Customers who require new accounts with a new email address may create usernames @outlook.com which will generally also have passwords unless they add other auth methods and later choose to delete the password from their account.
