Page 884 - Windows 10 May 2019 Update The Missing Manual: The Book That Should Have Been in the Box

Note

Your passwords don’t get synced until you make each computer a “trusted PC.” When you first
sign into a new Windows 8 or 10 computer, a message asks if you want to “Trust this PC.” If you
do, you’re asked to confirm that this is your message account by replying to an email or text
message.

Your Microsoft Store apps. You can install a Microsoft Store app

on up to 81 Windows machines. They don’t show up automatically
when you sign into a brand-new computer, but you can open the
Microsoft Store app and click “Your apps” to re-download them.

A Microsoft account is also, of course, your Microsoft wallet; you can use
your Microsoft ID to buy apps, music, videos, and games from Microsoft.

It’s also what you use to sign in if you have an Xbox (possible) or a
Windows Phone (unlikely).

In fact, you can’t download new Microsoft Store apps from the app store at

all without a Microsoft account.

A Microsoft account still lets you into your PC when you don’t have an
internet connection. You can turn off as many of the syncing features as you

like, for privacy’s sake. The company swears it won’t send anything to the
email address you use. And it’s free. In general, it’s the best way to sign
into Windows.

And what about the alternative—a local account? If you have only one
computer (and therefore don’t need the syncing business) and don’t plan to
buy anything online, it’s fine, too. In fact, Windows 10 is much kinder to

local accounts than Windows 8 was; for example, you can now use the
built-in apps like Mail, Calendar, and People without having a Microsoft
account.

You can always convert any account from Microsoft to local or vice versa.

Accounts Central