• Switch a local account to a Microsoft account: If you opted out of the Microsoft account sign-in when you first set up Windows 8, perhaps because you were confused by this new account type and simply wanted things to be as close as possible to the way it was in Windows 7, Microsoft actually lets you change your local account after the fact and switch it to a Microsoft account.
To make this change, navigate to PC Settings and then Users. Then, under Your account, click the Switch to a Microsoft account button, as shown in Figure 12-1.
You can also use this same interface to switch from a Microsoft account to a local account. And no, we can’t think of a single reason why you’d want to do this.
Figure 12-1: You can convert your local account to a Microsoft account at any time.

• Connect a domain account to a Microsoft account: If you’re using a domain account, you can’t switch it to a Microsoft account. But you
To do so, navigate to PC Settings and then Users. Under Your account, click the Connect your Microsoft account button. When you do, the screen shown in Figure 12-2 appears. Here, you choose which PC settings you’d like to sync with your domain account.
Figure 12-2: You can connect a domain account to a Microsoft account and even choose which settings to sync.

After choosing which settings to sync, you will sign in to your Microsoft account and confirm or enter your security verification information, just as you do when you sign in with this type of account normally. And from now on, you can use Microsoft’s account services—and the bundled apps in Windows 8 that take advantage of them— seamlessly, without needing to sign in with each app. Actually, it’s even better than that: Some apps simply won’t work unless you sign in with a Microsoft account. This linking process makes them work.
Okay, there’s a huge gotcha to this scheme. (You had to sort of expect there was going to be one.) It goes like this: Your domain administrators simply may not allow it. Whether they do will depend on a number of factors, but it all boils down to whether your environment is highly controlled. So all you can do is try and hope for the best.
• Sign in to app groups with a Microsoft account: There is a third approach, one that provides a more limited way to access some Microsoft account goodness, but without changing your domain or local account in any way. That is, instead of linking or switching your existing sign-in account, you can simply try to run one of the connected apps in Windows 8 and then sign in when prompted by a screen that will resemble Figure 12- 3.
Figure 12-3: If you can’t or won’t use a Microsoft account, you can instead sign in to various app groups.

This approach isn’t as sophisticated as using (or linking) a Microsoft account. You’ll need to sign in a few different times, to different app groups—Microsoft considers the productivity (or what it calls “communications”) apps to be one group, for example, and the Xbox (media and games) apps to be a separate group. And you don’t get the PC-to-PC settings sync functionality that’s available with a real Microsoft account sign-in. But if you don’t have a choice—or are just really, really stubborn—this will at least let you use the built-in Metro apps to their fullest.
Managing Accounts
In previous Windows versions, we managed local user accounts in Control Panel, a desktop user interface that dates back to the earliest days of Windows. But in Windows 8, basic user account management tasks now occur within the Metro-based PC Settings instead, while, confusingly, a few more advanced or esoteric features can still be found in legacy control panels. So you may find yourself moving back and forth between the two environments depending on your needs.
Let’s start with the basics.
Like many Metro interfaces, the Users section in PC Settings is almost disarmingly simple. As you can see in Figure 12-4, this UI lets you manage features related to your own and other user accounts. (This figure displays the version of this screen that most users will see, since it depicts a Microsoft account.)
Figure 12-4: PC Settings provides a new user management interface.

These features, which vary somewhat depending on the type of account you use to sign in, can include:
• Switch to a local account/Switch to a Microsoft account: If you’re signed in with a Microsoft account, there is a Switch to a local account button that will let you do just that, albeit at the expense of losing all of the included functionality one gets with such an account type. If you are signed in with a local account, however, you will see a Switch to a Microsoft account button instead.
• Connect your Microsoft account/Disconnect your Microsoft account: Those who are signed in with a domain account (used only in corporations and other businesses) will see a button, Connect your Microsoft account, as described earlier in this chapter. If you’ve already connected your domain account to a Microsoft account, you will see a Disconnect your Microsoft account button instead.
• Change your password: Those with local or Microsoft account sign-ins can change their password at any time using this button. Domain users will not see this option; instead, you can type Ctrl + Alt + Del and choose the Change a password option from the full-screen menu that appears. However, your ability to actually change your password will be based on corporate policy. (And, in fact, many businesses may require you to change passwords on a regular schedule, whether you want to or not.)
• Create a picture password/Change a picture password: With the advent of touch- based Windows devices, including tablets and other touch screen devices, Windows 8 now offers two fun and efficient new ways to sign in to your computer: picture password and PIN (the latter of which is described next). Neither replaces your normal password. Instead, you can use either to implicitly sign in to the system using your actual password, but using a method that is simpler (and, in this case, a bit more fun) than a normal password. This is especially useful because tapping out a long password on a touch screen can be tedious.
A picture password is essentially a photo over which you trace any combination of three circles, lines, and/or taps, using the device’s touch screen. You might imagine a picture of a family member where you “poke” them in each eye and then draw a smile over their lips as an example of this type of sign-in (though not necessarily one you would want to choose to use, since such a combination of swipes is fairly obvious and could undermine the security of your PC).
Creating a picture password requires completing a short wizard. After providing your password to prove