Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft
User Account Control to be less annoying in Windows 7
by Brad Linder Oct 9th 2008 at 4:00PM
One thing to note is that UAC isn't intrinsically a bad idea. It's designed to prevent users from accidentally granting software access to protected parts of their systems. In other words, it can prevent security breaches, viruses and all sorts of other malware from infecting your Windows machine. But it's heavy handed, and according to anonymous usage statistics, Microsoft says that the UAC prompts showed up during 50% of all user sessions within the first few months after Vista was released. What's more, over 775,000 unique applications caused the UAC prompt to come up because of the way they were written. That number is now down to about 168,000, as software developers have learned to adjust their applications.
But there are still a few major issues to address. First, nobody can understand what the heck the prompts are saying. Microsoft conducted a study and found that just 13% of participants could figure out why they were seeing a prompt. Windows 7 will feature easier to understand warning messages, which should help users figure out whether or not it's really safe to click the Continue button. Right now, most people do click it most of the time, whether they really know it's safe to do so or not.
Another thing Microsoft plans to do is make it easier for users to adjust the range of notifications they receive. While you can currently disable UAC notifications or surpress them, there's no good way to say that you want to receive certain types of notifications but not others. It sounds like Windows 7 will include that feature. Windows 7 will also have fewer duplicated system prompts. For example, right now when you download and run software from the internet using Internet Explorer you'll receive a message from IE7 asking if you really want to run the application and then you may also see a Windows UAC prompt. Eliminating that duplication is also on the agenda.
[via ZDnet]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
austin316gb said 4:54PM on 10-09-2008
It's the duplication that annoys me most. I don't mind UAC as an idea but the fact that you have to agree to three separate prompts to delete a shortcut out of your start menu it way over the top. One is sufficient and far less annoying. As it is I turn it off which has the unfortunate side effect of disabling protected mode in IE7 which I'd actually rather leave on. I'm not sure exactly how these things work but I'd like to think that these two things could be separated so that I can have one off and the other on.
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Quikboy said 12:30AM on 10-10-2008
I agree. The concept of UAC sounds good, but the way it's implemented is all wrong, and I can see how it might aggravate some users.
I just wish there was a check box that says something like "Don't prompt me about this again". So that I can easily check it, and don't have to deal with it again for doing something as simple and insignificant as deleting shortcuts.
I really hope those changes mentioned in the last paragraph of this post will happen. It would be nice of course if Microsoft could just bundle their OneCare AV to work alongside of UAC so security is even less of an issue, but those dumb anti-trust laws kill that idea.
kojo87 said 4:57PM on 10-09-2008
am i the only one thats not that annoyed with UAC? sure i'd rather not have to confirm and continue every 3 minutes but there have been a few instances where it has saved me from running programs that i didn't initialize and knew i didn't want to run.
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Evenio said 5:35PM on 10-09-2008
Of course not! There are millions of Windows XP, Mac OS X and Linux users who aren't annoyed by UAC. :)
Racetrack_Owner said 6:13PM on 10-09-2008
Doesn't bother me. I don't even see it all that often. I always assumed this was another case of the anti-MS crowd making a mountain out of a mole hill. For any reasonably current machine, Vista is just fine.
Todd said 4:57PM on 10-09-2008
Hey how come we never see anyone installing software on those "Mojave" ads?
"I banish you. You are banished." - PC from the I'm a Mac ads
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqfHAXypXZI
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kojo87 said 8:35PM on 10-09-2008
that was so incredibly insightful! thanks for that!
douchebag
James said 7:38AM on 10-10-2008
I for one get UAC prompts a couple times a week, tops. I still don't get what everybody's problem is.
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Bufsabre said 7:39AM on 10-10-2008
doesnt matter, im still disabling it
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Matias Korhonen said 8:59AM on 10-10-2008
Mind you, this problem wouldn't exist if Microsoft had implemented a proper distinction between user and super user accounts back in the mid 1980's...
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James said 1:13PM on 10-10-2008
110% correct, of course, but then in the 80s there was no reason to think people would ever have remote access to your computer unless you were running a BBS.
namln.com said 9:36PM on 10-10-2008
No need to wait WIndows 7, a better User Account Control for Windows Vista and XP is available. This is SmartUAC. More information: http://en.namln.com/2008/10/smart-uac-10-control-executable-files.html
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peskyeskie said 8:07AM on 10-12-2008
It is quite humorous to read some of the complaints from users about UAC, and later to read about the horrible maleware that inadvertently wandered onto their systems. I have to wonder at that point which was the biggest annoyance?
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