Windows 10 will soon lock your PC when you step away from it (a.k.a. "Windows Goodbye")

The Verge ^ | Jan 11, 2017 | Tom Warren

[dayglored]

Microsoft is working on a new Windows 10 feature that will automatically lock and secure a PC when the operating system detects someone has moved away from the machine. The feature is labelled as Dynamic Lock in recent test builds of Windows 10, and Windows Central reports that Microsoft refers to this as “Windows Goodbye” internally. Microsoft currently uses special Windows Hello cameras to let Windows 10 users log into a PC with just their face.

Big corporations teach employees to use the winkey+L combination to lock machines when they’re idle, but this new feature will make it an automatic process. It’s not clear exactly how Microsoft will detect inactivity, but it’s possible the company could use Windows Hello-compatible machines or detect idle activity and lock the machine accordingly. Windows can already be configured to do this after a set time period, but it appears Microsoft is streamlining this feature into a simple setting for anyone to enable. Microsoft is planning to deliver Dynamic Lock as part of the Windows 10 Creators Update...

[soycd]

ESAD Win 10. Win XP or 7 else Linux.

[867V309]

Let me know when Windows can cook dinner for you and walk the dog.

Win11 will walk dinner and cook your dog. Close enough?

[Bullish]

If you’re Vietnamese maybe.

[kiryandil]

If it runs Windows, it isn’t really your computer per the EULA, is it?

LOL!

[tahoeblue]

If my work computer is going to look for signs of life - it’s alway going to be locked!

[buwaya]

When soneone invents a robot cat-petter its all up with humanity. We will be redundant.

[buwaya]

If it keeps users away from Windows it may be the greatest boin to humanity since antibiotics.

[Bullish]

Ohhhhh.... Ya’ know, I never thought of that.

[Bullish]

I hate ta’ boin.

[TexasGator]

You obviously know nothing about word and excel.

[Maudeen]

I’m just biding my time on Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2007. Meets my needs.

[Swordmaker]

When soneone invents a robot cat-petter its all up with humanity. We will be redundant.

Too Late. . .

[PIF]

But then this is windoz here - step away and it locks, come back and it says locked until you take it to the repair shop ...

[cgbg]

According to Homeland Security this cat is impeding critical infrastructure and a swat team will need to be sent to destroy it. :-(

[redfreedom]

Hopefully this feature can be turned off for those that have zero use for it.

But then I see it as a good thing, our cat could order a couple cases of tuna while I’m in the john.

[maddog55]

https://www.grc.com/never10.htm

[Falcon4.0]

Yea, I was wondering how they were going to try to force me to remove the tape I have on my camera. Although I don't have windows 10, they seem to be trying to force us to it by adding updates to win 7 that are slowly screwing up the op sys. I have always had the updates set to just notify me, but I found that it set itself to automatic. There was an up date that interfered with the license and it kept telling me with annoying pop-ups that my copy of windows was not “genuine” even though it came with the laptop. These pop-ups became more frequent and more annoying. I did a search and found I had to remove a specific update and that has cured it for now.

[dayglored]

> Hopefully this feature can be turned off for those that have zero use for it. But then I see it as a good thing, our cat could order a couple cases of tuna while I’m in the john.

I do believe that's the idea. And yes, my cat would do the same.

[dayglored]

> I was wondering how they were going to try to force me to remove the tape I have on my camera.

What? You don't want pictures of yourself, first thing in the morning or last thing at night, all over the internet?

You must be anti-social. /s

What? You don't want the government to have lots of pictures of your face and eyeballs that they can use to identify you in public places?

You must be a criminal. /s

[GingisK]

It aught to go ahead and reboot as well, sort of like the auto-flushing urinals do at the airport.