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Windows 7's PC Safeguard sandboxes user accounts


One of the first pieces I wrote when I joined Download Squad covered Microsoft SteadyState, a free application that caches changes to your operating system and can remove all traces of them on rebooting. Now it looks as though that functionality will be part of the Windows 7 core - with one major improvement.

Whereas SteadyState will lock down your entire system, PC Safeguard can be configured on a per-user basis. Making changes under SteadyState can be a bit cumbersome and usually requires at least one reboot. With PC Safeguard, you've got two options. First, you log off the protected user and log in with your administrative account.

Second, you can simply run a command as an administrative user and the changes will persist. For example: right click the Firefox installer, run it as the administrator, enter the password, and it's there to stay.


Safeguard can also lock any hard drive you specify to prevent write access with just a couple of mouse clicks. There's a bit of startup delay when logging in a protected user, but it's barely noticeable.

It's a much more user-friendly way to prevent potentially harmful changes to a home system, and just one more feature that will make Windows 7 look good, and make Vista Ultimate owners very, very angry. Have a look at the gallery to see how it works!


[ via iStartedSomething ]

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Featured Time Waster

Civiballs is a beautiful, soothing physics puzzle Time Waster

CiviballsI have an absolute weakness for physics games, and while Civiballs isn't the strongest physics-based game, what it lacks in the physics department it makes up for a few times over in style and fun.

In Civiballs, you are presented with a few colored balls, and your goal is to get those balls into the same-colored urn on the level. The "civi" part of Civiballs is that there are 3 sets of levels to play, each representing a different civilization. While the civilization doesn't affect gameplay, the artwork for each level is beautifully themed to it's appropriate era.

To play the game, you are given only one tool - a sword with which to cut the chains that are holding the balls. The puzzle part of the game is in figuring out what order, and with what timing to cut each chain. Do it right, and all the right balls end up in the right urns, with no stray balls entering an urn (a no-no). Do it wrong, and you get to start over again.

Civiballs is not terribly deep on gameplay; the entire game can be completed in about 15 minutes. But if you enjoy this type of game, it will be a very enjoyable 15 minutes.

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