Vista: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love UAC Print E-mail

One of Vista's more prominant features, User Access Control, has gotten a bad wrap in the blogging community as an obnoxious annoyance in the computer experience.

Even rival Apple has gotten a few digs in with an admittedly humerous commercial that is arguably true, albeit overstated.

I cannot even count the number of times I have been asked how to turn it off. My answer is...don't.

 

 

First, simply, what is UAC and why is it there?

I don't have to tell you that Microsoft Windows is the most popular operating system in the world. As such, it is also the biggest target in the wold when it comes to hackers, virus writers, and malware developers.

No matter how much Microsoft strives to protect Windows, they are hopelessly outmanned. Those who wish to corrupt Windows or take it over for their own use will win because they have more resources. A lot of people criticize Microsoft for this, and when the code is sloppy, they have a point, but sheer enormity of Windows makes closing fixing every security breach a near impossibility.

And perhaps the biggest security breach is you.

Microsoft cannot say it, because that would be insulting, but most people, when it comes to security, hurt themselves by doing stupid things. They click on email attachments, visit questionable websites, download suspect software...not because they are dumb but because they just don't know the risks.

To make matters worse, Windows has traditionally given users the ability to do just about anything they want on their computers. Linux users like to brag about security on the operating system, but one big reason it is so secure is because Linux has long compelled users to work in a restriucted mode, preserving the capabilities of computer administrator to a separate user account.

Microsoft has these varying user accounts, but due to the nature of its user base, it has traditionally made every user, from super geeks to a 6-year-old trying to load a the latest cartoon inspired game, a computer administrator.

Vista changes that -- kind of.

User Account Control (or UAC for short) forces users that are part of the local administrators group to run like they were regular users with no administrative privileges.

Whenever a user that is a member of the local administrators group (or even a member of the Domain Admins group if the computer is part of an Active Directory domain) tries to perform a task that requires administrative privileges, the operating system halts the operation and prompts the user to acknowledge it prior to running the task.


Furthermore, in cases where the user is not a member of the local administrators group and he or she tries to perform a task that requires such privileges, they are prompted to enter the valid credentials of an administrator (similar to the Run As command in existing Windows XP/2003):

These little pop-up notices have really tried the patience of the first users of Windows, but to be fair, these are not really the users Microsoft is worried about.

Windows Vista beta testers, the first to sound the alarm about UAC, are not your typical user. They are advanced users who applied for and were accepted as beta testers due to higher technical ability.

First adopters, those who ran out to the store the day Vista became available, are also typically mroe advanced users.

 Is it any surprise they are easily annoyed at a message that basically means, "Are you sure you want to do that?"

Making matters worse, the number of these alerts are extreme when you first install Vista because that is the time when you are installing software and configuring all the hardware.  Of course you are going to see more alerts.

Once your system is up and running, however, you will find that UAC alerts become few and far between.

When it does pop up the occasional alert after initial configuration, rest assured it could be saving you from a major security breach.  Sounds like a pretty solid feature. 

And if not, hit the enter key and the alert goes away.