a little bit on UAC

Ok.. I felt compelled this post a while ago, but I didn't get around to it… until now.

I must credit Claus over at GSD for inspiration for this post.

Really, I hadn't seen User Account Control as helpful before, more like annoying. Actually, I have XP, not Vista, but I have had a little experience with it, and my fellow blogger, Matthew, has deigned to turn it off. And said something to the effect of "Vista is okay IF you turn off User Account Control." Alright… that seems quite understandable from what I've heard. UAC seems like a nanny instead of a helpful tool. I actually have experienced something of the sort: the excellent (and free) Comodo Firewall Pro has a sort of anti-malware feature called Defense+. That got pretty annoying… extracting files with 7-Zip and having it scream, freaking about about installing programs, etcetera. So I disabled it (thank goodness for the option).

And now the "But."

But… such tight system control and checks can be helpful if implemented and presented in a efficient, clear, and pleasing manner. Enter Microsoft on Windows 7 and TweakUAC on Vista.

Microsoft has been making changes to UAC from feedback data they've gathered. Evidently, an alarming (to them) amount of people disable it on Vista.

So, it changed my mind about UAC. Bring it on… IF it's done right.