Fingerprint reader support on Windows 8.1 includes option to lock folders with a finger

Microsoft has been drawing attention to the additional improvements that it is doling out to Windows 8.1 at its annual Tech-Ed conferene. The Verge reports that one of the features that has been of particular interest is the support for a native fingerprint reader.

Users would know that although earlier versions of Windows supported fingerprint readers, they did so through third-party drivers and software. For Windows 8.1, though, Microsoft aims to improve the native support and also introduce the option to use one's finger to unlock. "Swiping or touching a finger on a reader will allow Windows 8.1 to authenticate a finger against a Microsoft Account," the report elaborates. Not just that, according to the report, users will also be able to buy apps or log in to apps using a fingerprint reader.

Multiple Tile Size is the newest USP of Windows 8.1.

The report even quoted Michael Niehaus, a senior product marketing manager at Microsoft, as saying that the company is "working very closely" with two to three manufacturers to introduce the support. Reportedly, he also said that the company is also working to introduce folder support for fingerprints. "We're also working with this so that you can actually take folders and say this folder requires fingerprint access to get into, so different levels that we're looking at," he explained.

In addition to that, the company is also known to be working with various OEMs to get them to add fingerprint readers into laptops, tablets, keyboards and mice. The report quoted Microsoft's Stephen Rose as saying, "You'll begin to see these be more pervasively available just to make it that much easier to log in to Windows."