Windows 10 Settings menu: The Accounts tab

The Accounts tab in Windows 10's new Settings menu is very similar to the Accounts tab in Windows 8's Settings menu, but with a few extra options.

In Windows 8, you can reach the Accounts tab by opening the Charms bar, clicking the Settings charm, clicking Change PC settings and opening Accounts. Here, you'll find three main sections: Your account, Sign-in options and Other accounts. In Windows 10's new Settings menu, the Accounts tab has five options: Your account, Sign-in options, Work access, Family & other users and Sync your settings.

Your account is where you will manage your primary sign-in account, which is linked to Microsoft's cloud network. Interestingly, Microsoft has actually dialed back functionality in this section from the last build of Windows 10 -- in Build 10130, there's no longer a link for you to edit your account options online. Instead, in this section you can sign in with a local account or change your primary account's photo.

Sign-in options lets you choose how you want to sign in to your computer: With a password, PIN, picture password (in which you draw gestures over a picture of your choosing -- best for touchscreen users) or "Windows Hello," which lets you sign in using your face, iris or fingerprint. Windows Hello facial recognition may not work on current machines, but your built-in fingerprint scanner should be supported.

Work access is pretty straightforward: Here, you can connect to a shared work or school network with Azure AD.

Family & other users is where you can add additional accounts. Windows now distinguishes between "family members" and "other users who are not family members." Family member accounts can be designated as "adults" or "children," and with child accounts you can block websites, set time limits and limit app and game usage.

In this section, you can also set up an account for "assigned access," where the account will only be able to access one Windows Store app. This is something you might want to do if you want to use your PC as an Internet kiosk (the account will only be able to access Internet Explorer, for example). To do this, click Set up an account for assigned access and then click Choose an account. Pick the account you want to have assigned access, and then click Choose an app. Now pick the app you want the account to be able to access and restart your computer to confirm the changes.

In Sync your settings, you can manage your PC's sync settings. This is useful because not everybody wants to have every setting on their home PC sync with their work PC (and vice versa). At the top of the section, you can choose to turn syncing on or off; if you turn it off, your account will be more like a local account rather than a Microsoft network account. Your PC won't sync your theme (including desktop background and colors), apps, browser settings, or passwords with any other PC you sign into using your Microsoft account. If you turn syncing on, you'll have the option to modify individual sync settings -- you can toggle theme, apps, browser settings, passwords, language preferences and ease of access syncing on and off.