Vista - RE: Programs ???

"Jaxdom" wrote:

(edited for content)
> Why the **** do you not allow me to run programs without 20 dialog pop-ups
> asking me the same question 20 times over whether I really want to run
> software on my computer?

The computer is not asking you if you want the program to run; it is asking
you if you want to give that program COMPLETE control over your computer.

When you are logged in as an administrator, YOU have complete control over
your computer. However, the computer is smart enough to know that you may not
want EVERY program that you run have this power as well.

So, if a program tells your computer that it wants to use ALL of your powers
(which can be used for good or bad), the computer asks YOU if you want to
allow that program to have this awesome power.

Programs that do not ask for this power do not receive it, and you can be
confident that those programs that do not ask will not be able to severely
harm your computer.

The computer has no way of knowing how much power you want to give the
programs you run without asking you.

- JB

One of the big problems with UAC and the new security model are the amount
of confirmation dialogs generated. This isn't just about user annoyance,
it's about the psychology of asking users for permission. Once you've done
so a very large number of times, for tasks them seem mundane to users, users
will begin to take the dialogs less and less seriously!

This problem is exacerbated by the way UAC is initiated in Explorer, for
example. When a user tries to delete a file, he might have to confirm it
three times in a row! (Yes to Explorer's are-you-sure, Yes to confirm an
elevation request... this will have that little button with the windows
security logo on it, and then Yes on the UAC dialog.) A similar situation
happens in Internet Explorer because of the warning about opening files from
the internet. Also, there are going to be lots and lots of applications that
need elevation to run, so the user will be very used to clicking yes to
this.

Eventually, Joe user who doesn't know how to turn off UAC is going to be
sooo conditioned to click Okay, okay, yes, yes, okay, yes... he's going to
stop reading dialogs!

It would help if Windows would consolodate some of this
multiple-confirms-in-a-row, but I realize they don't because they want to
let the user know something he does is going to bring up the secure desktop.
Personally, I think that is a less important goal than consolodating
confirmations.


"Jimmy Brush" <JimmyBrush@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:3667B153-330B-441A-99B3-D699A62C0319@microsoft.com...
> "Jaxdom" wrote:
>
> (edited for content)
>> Why the **** do you not allow me to run programs without 20 dialog
>> pop-ups
>> asking me the same question 20 times over whether I really want to run
>> software on my computer?
>
> The computer is not asking you if you want the program to run; it is
> asking
> you if you want to give that program COMPLETE control over your computer.
>
> When you are logged in as an administrator, YOU have complete control over
> your computer. However, the computer is smart enough to know that you may
> not
> want EVERY program that you run have this power as well.
>
> So, if a program tells your computer that it wants to use ALL of your
> powers
> (which can be used for good or bad), the computer asks YOU if you want to
> allow that program to have this awesome power.
>
> Programs that do not ask for this power do not receive it, and you can be
> confident that those programs that do not ask will not be able to severely
> harm your computer.
>
> The computer has no way of knowing how much power you want to give the
> programs you run without asking you.
>
> - JB

> One of the big problems with UAC and the new security model are the amount
> of confirmation dialogs generated. This isn't just about user annoyance,
> it's about the psychology of asking users for permission. Once you've done
> so a very large number of times, for tasks them seem mundane to users,
> users will begin to take the dialogs less and less seriously!

True; however, I believe UAC strikes a good balance. Users will only see UAC
prompts while doing system maintenance. As long as they realize system
maintenance = prompts, not-system-maintenance = no prompts, they are good to
go.

> This problem is exacerbated by the way UAC is initiated in Explorer, for
> example. When a user tries to delete a file, he might have to confirm it
> three times in a row! (Yes to Explorer's are-you-sure, Yes to confirm an
> elevation request... this will have that little button with the windows
> security logo on it, and then Yes on the UAC dialog.) A similar situation
> happens in Internet Explorer because of the warning about opening files
> from the internet. Also, there are going to be lots and lots of
> applications that need elevation to run, so the user will be very used to
> clicking yes to this.

The only apps that need elevation to run are admin utilities or poorly
written legacy applications. Same thing with explorer or any other app that
only asks for admin when needed - it only asks when the user is doing some
sort of administrative tasks. Users should eventually realize and then be
accustomed to prompting whenever they are performing administrative tasks,
and then be wary of click "Continue" when not doing anything administrative.

The number of prompts can indeed be daunting, but it becomes painfully
obvious after use that the prompts ONLY occur when a program is doing
something that could damange the system - this is the important part, and
once users understand that this is what is happening they will be able to
utilize the cancel button when necessary.

> Eventually, Joe user who doesn't know how to turn off UAC is going to be
> sooo conditioned to click Okay, okay, yes, yes, okay, yes... he's going to
> stop reading dialogs!

Again, I think most users will realize that prompting only occurs when
performing administrative actions, and become accustomed to such prompting.
It would be different if the prompting was random or occured for every
application - but since it only occurs for applications needing
administrative access, it should be easy for the consumer to grasp.

> It would help if Windows would consolodate some of this
> multiple-confirms-in-a-row, but I realize they don't because they want to
> let the user know something he does is going to bring up the secure
> desktop. Personally, I think that is a less important goal than
> consolodating confirmations.

Consolodating confirmations is not possible in the current security model,
as it would open a hole that malware could exploit. I do see alternative
solutions possible, and it will be interesting to see how MS deals with this
in the future.


--
- JB

Windows Vista Support Faq
http://www.jimmah.com/vista/