Windows Vista UAC as Linux vaccine
The most irritating feature in the new Windows Vista is User Account Control, which drives users crazy with its thousands of inane pop-ups. Is it possible there is a method to this madness?
Hmm, let’s see. It’s called UAC. Wasn’t that the company responsible for unleashing Hell in Doom3? Coincidence?
What will the effect be of UAC? Let’s see. Users starting to really, really hate security popups, to despise them even.
Why would Microsoft do that? Let’s see. What’s the greatest threat to the Windows monopoly? It’s something called Linux. What’s the main reason users switch to Linux? Security. Why is Linux so secure? Because users don’t run with administrative privileges. However, that does mean that to perform administrative tasks, you sometimes are presented with a security popup, though far less often than Windows with UAC.
Users raised in the Unix community accept this small inconvenience for the major security benefits it offers.
However, consider a user who has been exposed to UAC. He switches to Linux. Wants to change his broadband settings, for example. And is greeted by that hated security popup. And will want to run with administrative privileges, as root, from now on, because “I hate those security popups, Windows never bothered me anymore after switching off UAC”.
And that circumvents 99% of Linux’s defenses against malware. The Linux community may get just as infested by security problems as Windows, destroying its good reputation.
A masterstroke of Clouseauesque proportions. Proficiat Microsoft!