Don't bother with facial recognition software (unless you're a secret agent)

I bought an Inspiron 17R a few weeks ago, and the facial recognition software sounded cool. I'm not so much concerned about the security, I know how to make a strong password, and regardless, I don't have confidential information on my machine. But I figured it might save me some time typing passwords. Boy was I wrong. What a nuisance.

Every time I go on, I have to wait for the webcam to start up, wait for the right lighting, no matter how bright it is, wait to be recognized, test for photo, then most of the time, 2 weeks later, it is still "learning" my face. So I end up typing the password anyway. The same routine for websites, takes much longer now than if I just had to type the password. I just don't think the technology is quite there yet. I uninstalled it today, and to my surprise Dell is going to credit me with what I paid for it. 

I guess if you have a really hard time remembering passwords (although google chrome will generally do that for you) or you really need that extra level of security then the extra time spent waiting for this software to do its thing (or not) might be worth it. Otherwise, do yourself a favor and just skip it. It sounds a whole lot cooler than it really is!