- Creating a Microsoft Account
- So I Now Have a Microsoft AccountNow What?
- Using a Microsoft Account in Windows 8
- Leveraging a Microsoft Account with Other Microsoft Online Services
Like this article? We recommend
Like this article? We recommend
Like this article? We recommend
Using a Microsoft Account in Windows 8
The Windows 8 Consumer Preview installation routine gives you the option of creating a Microsoft Account. By contrast, you can associate an existing Microsoft Account with the computer during initial installation or at any time thereafter.
We can associate a Microsoft Account with an already installed copy of Windows 8 Consumer preview by opening Control Panel either from Metro or the traditional Desktop and clicking Add a user account. This is shown in Figure 4.
)
Figure 4 The User Accounts Control Panel in Windows 8 Consumer Preview
As you can see in Figure 5, the Microsoft Account is the default user type in Windows 8 Consumer Preview. As I've called out with the A label in that figure, you can override this default and instead create a traditional local Windows user account.
)
Figure 5 Creating a new user account in Windows 8 Consumer Preview
What can we do in Windows 8 with a Microsoft Account? Oh, let us count the ways! As it turns out, most of the default Metro-style apps in Windows 8 Consumer Preview are tightly integrated with the Microsoft Account. For instance, we can perform the following actions:
- Chat with friends by using the Messaging app
- Purchase items from the Windows Store using the Store app
- Access our Microsoft Office files by using the SkyDrive app
- Browse our local and SkyDrive-hosted photos by using the Photos app
- Manage our Hotmail calendar and e-mail by using the Calendar and Mail apps, respectively
Several of these default Metro-style apps are shown in Figure 6 and Figure 7.
)
Figure 6 Metro desktop in Windows 8 Consumer Preview
)
Figure 7 Tapping into SkyDrive from Windows 8 Consumer Preview