Microsoft’s Windows 10 coming to 190 countries this summer

Microsoft has revealed a few more details about its plans for the big Windows 10 launch.

Terry Myerson, executive vice president of the Operating Systems group, said that Windows 10 would be out this summer – not autumn – with the OS rolling out over 190 countries initially, in 111 different languages.

Myerson has been speaking over at the Windows Hardware Engineering Community (WinHEC) event in Shenzhen, China, where he also showed off a couple of new Windows features.

One of those was Windows Hello (pictured), which is built-in biometric authentication that’s considerably more secure than your basic password, and works using face recognition, or fingerprint or iris, to unlock your hardware.

If you have a fingerprint sensor on your device, of course you’ll be able to use that with Windows Hello. For facial or iris detection, the system will use “special hardware and software” for authentication to ensure it’s really you, with cameras that use infrared technology and can recognise the user in different lighting conditions (and also ensure it isn’t just someone trying to use a photo of the user to gain access).

Myerson noted: “We’re working closely with our hardware partners to deliver Windows Hello-capable devices that will ship with Windows 10. We are thrilled that all OEM systems incorporating the Intel RealSense F200 sensor will fully support Windows Hello, including automatic sign-in to Windows.”

Myerson also said that a free lightweight version of Windows will be available for Internet of Things hardware when Windows 10 kicks off, covering a diverse range of IoT devices including the likes of ATMs and ultrasound machines.