Microsoft is trying to kill passwords. It can't happen soon enough.

Microsoft is trying to kill the password, and it’s about time. This week, the company said the next test version of its stripped-down Windows 10 S operating system will strip out passwords as well, by default. If you go through setup as recommended, you’ll never get a password option.

But killing the password altogether will take more work and time — and the problem may get worse before it gets better.

Which is a shame. Passwords, we can surely agree, are the bane of modern digital existence. On a big-picture level, insecure passwords cause an estimated 80 percent of breaches, according to a 2017 report from Verizon. On a human level, they’re paralyzing; right when you need to access your utility bill, you can’t remember if you replaced the “a” with a 4 or an @ symbol. Or when, say, a missile alert has gone out to your entire state and you can’t find your password to give an all-clear.