What are the Benefits of Windows Live ID Integration in Windows 8?

We all know that Windows 8 will come with lots of new features and enhancements and one of them is the built-in integration of Windows Live ID. Actually you can use your Windows Live email ID as your login account for Windows which provides many benefits to you.

Microsoft has outlined these benefits in an official post at Building Windows 8 blog. According to Microsoft:

Windows 8 will come with Windows Live ID integration which will provide the ability to log in to Windows (optionally) with a Windows Live ID that works across devices, apps, and services, allowing you a uniquely personal experience with Windows.

Signing in with Windows Live ID allows you to:

• Associate the most commonly used Windows settings with your user account. Saved settings are available when you sign in to your account on any Windows 8 PC. Your PC will be set up just the way you are used to!
• Easily reacquire your Metro style apps on multiple Windows 8 PCs. The app’s settings and last-used state persist across all your Windows 8 PCs.
• Save sign-in credentials for the different apps and websites you use and easily get back into them without having to enter credentials every time.
• Automatically sign in to apps and services that use Windows Live ID for authentication.

How is it Done?

When you buy a Windows 8 PC and set up your user account for the first time, you can optionally choose to create an account that is associated to a Windows Live ID. You can either use an existing ID or create a new one. If you choose to create a new one, you can use any email address you want as your new ID, and then create your unique password. You just need to identify an email address that you want to have associated with the Windows Live ID service, and provide a unique password.  Of course, you can also continue to use local Windows accounts as you always have just like in Windows 7. You can also change a local account to link it with a Windows Live ID at a later date.

So, although many people assume they will need to sign up for a new email account to get a Windows Live ID, it’s actually not necessary.

What Happens in Background?

With Windows 8, you will be able to have your personal Windows experience on any Windows 8 PC you sign in to with your Windows Live ID. Settings such as your lock screen picture, desktop background, user tile, browser favorites and history, spell check dictionaries, Explorer settings, mouse settings, and accessibility settings, among many others are now associated with your Windows 8 account and stored in the cloud. They are kept in sync and come down to each machine you use as they are changed or updated.

No Need to Sign In Multiple Times!

Once you’ve signed in to Windows with your ID, you do not need to enter it again to sign in to any app or website that also uses Windows Live ID. For example, once you sign in to Windows with your ID, you can launch the Windows Chat app and start talking with your friends without the need to sign in again. Similarly, you can browse to your Hotmail inbox page without needing to enter your email address and password again. You can always sign out of a webpage and sign in as a different user, but by default you will be automatically signed in. To be clear, however, those applications and websites do not have special access to your Windows PC or your personal data.

If you choose to, Windows can store separate Metro style app and web site credentials. Those credentials can then sync to each Windows 8 PC that you’ve trusted and verified yourself with. You won’t have to type in your user name or password; just confirm your sign-in as needed. Similar to the Chat application example, when launching a Metro style application that uses this feature, you will be signed in automatically and the application will resume right where you left off.

How to Control?

In Control Panel, there is a section called “Sync PC Settings” where you can manually turn settings sync on or off.

You can choose to turn off all syncing or you can turn off syncing per the type of setting. The settings groups include:

• Personalize
• Themes
• Ease of access
• Language preferences
• Apps
• Web browser
• Other stuff
• Some passwords