Windows 10: Introducing Web Authentication in Microsoft Edge

Brink · Jul 30, 2018

Today, we are happy to introduce support for the Web Authentication specification in Microsoft Edge, enabling better, more secure user experiences and a passwordless experience on the web.

With Web Authentication, Microsoft Edge users can sign in with their face, fingerprint, PIN, or portable FIDO2 devices, leveraging strong public-key credentials instead of passwords.

A web without passwords

Staying secure on the web is more important than ever. We trust web sites to process credit card numbers, save addresses and personal information, and even to handle sensitive records like medical information. All this data is protected by an ancient security model—the password. But passwords are difficult to remember, and are fundamentally insecure—often re-used, and vulnerable to phishing and cracking.

For these reasons, Microsoft has been leading the charge towards a world without passwords, with innovations like Windows Hello biometrics and pioneering work with the FIDO Alliance to create an open standard for passwordless authentication – Web Authentication.

We started this journey in 2016, when we shipped the industry’s first preview implementation of the Web Authentication API in Microsoft Edge. Since then, we have been updating our implementation to as we worked with other vendors and the FIDO alliance to develop the standard. In March, the FIDO Alliance announced that the Web Authentication APIs have reached Candidate Recommendation (CR) status in the W3C, a major milestone for the maturity and interoperability of the specification.

Authenticators in Microsoft Edge

Beginning with build 17723, Microsoft Edge supports the CR version of Web Authentication. Our implementation provides the most complete support for Web Authentication to date, with support for a wider variety of authenticators than other browsers.

Windows Hello allows users to authenticate without a password on any Windows 10 device, using biometrics—face and fingerprint recognition—or a PIN number to sign in to web sites. With Windows Hello face recognition, users can log in to sites that support Web Authentication in seconds, with just a glance.

Users can also use external FIDO2 security keys to authenticate with a removable device and your biometrics or PIN. For websites that are not ready to move to a completely passwordless model, backwards compatibility with FIDO U2F devices can provide a strong second factor in addition to a password.

We’re working with industry partners on lighting up the first passwordless experiences around the web. At RSA 2018, we shared a sneak peak of how these APIs could be used to approve a payment on the web with your face. Passwordless authentication experiences like this are the foundation of a world without passwords.

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Getting started

We’re excited to get implementation into the hands of more developers to see what you build. To get started with Web Authentication in Microsoft Edge, check out more information on our implementation in the Web Authentication dev guide, or install Windows Insider Preview build 17723 or higher to try it out for yourself!

– Angelo Liao, Program Manager, Microsoft Edge

– Ibrahim Damlaj, Program Manager, Windows Security
Click to expand...

Source: Introducing Web Authentication in Microsoft Edge - Microsoft Edge Dev Blog

:)

poit57 · Jul 30, 2018

Microsoft Account authentication

After more research, I have found my answer. It looks like the issue was that Microsoft released a new Microsoft Authenticator app with the features first introduced in Microsoft Authenticator Beta. The new app received a prompt to approve access to my Microsoft
Account when signing on from a new PC, though I find it strange that the beta app wasn't directly upgraded to the new version of the app.

Microsoft now has three 2 step authentication apps available in the store for Windows 10 Mobile:

Authenticator - original app from Windows Phone 8

Microsoft Authenticator Beta - originally released to Windows 10 users when Windows 10 Mobile was only available on the Windows Insider program.

Microsoft Authenticator - the official Windows 10 app no longer in beta

Brink · Jul 30, 2018

Introducing Web Media Extension Package for Microsoft Edge

We’ve heard requests from many of our customers to support additional open-source formats in order to access a broader set of content on the web. To address this, ,we recently added support for the WebM container format and the VP9 and Opus codecs on supported hardware.

Today, we’re excited to announce a new mechanism which will allow our customers to add more formats on demand and increase our agility to add new formats in the future: Media Extensions. Alongside this mechanism, we’re releasing the Web Media Extensions package to the Microsoft Store as a free Media Extension for Microsoft Edge.

Media Extensions

Media on the web has been evolving at a furious rate for the last few years. Adaptive video streaming is now common, providing a simpler mechanism for professional-quality video under changing network and device conditions; HTML5 Premium Media provides the tools for interoperable, plugin-free protected media; plugin-free video and audio conferencing is now routine with tools like WebRTC and ORTC.

We’re proud to be at the leading edge of these features, providing a modern set of capabilities with more efficient and higher quality video in Microsoft Edge. At the same time, we’re always looking to make sure Microsoft Edge meets the needs of our customers and web developers alike, and to provide a seamless playback experience on the web. The rapid growth in media capabilities has naturally resulted in a need to support more media formats in web browsers.

Media Extensions are Media Foundation components designed to extend the core Windows platform and enable Windows apps including Microsoft Edge to support an ever-increasing range of formats. Media Extensions, much like browser extensions, allow customers to extend their device beyond the core experience shipped as part of Windows 10. It also allows the developers of media technologies to update and enhance media components independently of the Windows 10 release schedule. This allows us to work with the community to deliver high quality, interoperable codecs to Edge customers quickly and reliably.

The Web Media Extensions Package

The Web Media Extensions package adds support for the open source OGG container and the Theora and Vorbis codecs, and it expands support for WebM VP9 to work with Theora in simple video elements. Our support for these formats is based on proven implementations from the well-known FFmpeg codecs using the FFmpeg Interop library. We expect this set of formats to be useful for enthusiasts and customers with specific format needs and we’re excited to bring support for these FFmpeg formats to Microsoft Edge!

Our initial release of the Web Media Extension package is focused on supporting these developers and customers who know they need support for these formats – the seekers and enthusiasts on the web. In the spirit of flighting, this will allow us to learn and improve based on your feedback before we expand support to the broader range of Edge customers on the market today. Long-term, we expect to expand distribution of the Web Media Extension package to all Windows 10 devices so that these formats become a trusted and reliable part of the web platform available to developers.

Getting started

Developers and customers can get started with these new formats in Microsoft Edge by simply installing the Web Media Extension Package from the Microsoft Store. You can also find the package under the Microsoft Edge Extensions collection in the store. This package extends the base media platform in Windows, so the formats will be available to Windows apps and Microsoft Edge with no further action from the user.

We encourage you to install the extension and try it out today! Going forward, we intend to expand distribution, release more formats as Extensions and work with third parties on new formats for Microsoft Edge – your usage will help validate this approach and help us identify potential issues as we evaluate opportunities to provide these capabilities to our customers.

We’re passionate about providing a high-quality, interoperable media experience in Microsoft Edge. This extension package is a first step forward broadening Microsoft Edge’s playback capabilities while providing new mechanisms for us to deliver expanded support in response to the diverse needs of customers, devices, and different browsing contexts. We look forward to hearing your feedback as we work with the community to move our media platform forward!

— David Mebane, Senior Program Manager, Windows Media Platform

— Jerry Smith, Senior Program Manager, Microsoft Edge
Click to expand...

Source: Introducing the Web Media Extension Package with OGG Vorbis and Theora support for Microsoft Edge - Microsoft Edge Dev Blog

Sachin Venkatesh · Jul 30, 2018

Default pages for Microsoft Edge

Hello Angela,

I understand that you are trying to set the starting page for the Microsoft Edge of your preferred web pages. We will help you.

I suggest you to follow the below steps and check if it helps you.

Open Microsoft Edge.

Click on the ". . ." at the top right corner. Select Settings.

Under Open Microsoft Edge with. Select Specific pages.

Set the webpages and Save.

Please post to us if you have any further queries to help you better.

Windows 10: Introducing Web Authentication in Microsoft Edge

Introducing Web Authentication in Microsoft Edge

Introducing Web Authentication in Microsoft Edge

Introducing Web Authentication in Microsoft Edge

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