Apple and Google also pledged to use the FIDO Alliance’s standard for biometric or PIN logins as opposed to passwords.

A key part of the “passwordless by default” initiative Microsoft announced on Thursday is encouraging the use of passkeys—the new alternative to passwords that Microsoft, Google, Apple, and a large roster of other companies are developing under the coordination of the FIDO Alliance.

Microsoft is once again moving closer to a passwordless future. In a bold step toward embracing passkeys – which uses cryptography to better protect data from hackers and phishing scams – new Microsoft accounts will now be passwordless by default.