“Vista’s new security features will make for such a disruptive user experience that business users might want to steer clear of the operating system for the time being, according to Yankee Group… the new features will make it difficult for many enterprises to upgrade their users, because of usability issues. One problem is that features such as User Account Control, designed to reduce the impact of attacks by limiting users’ privileges, are likely to irritate users and IT administrators,” Matthew Broersma reports for Techworld.
“‘Although the new security system shows promise, it is far too chatty and annoying,’ wrote analyst Andrew Jaquith in the report. He said many people using the tools have said they deliver unnecessarily repetitive messages, have a patronizing feel and interrupt administrators’ work patterns,” Broersma reports.
Full article here.
Paul Thurrott writes for SuperSite for Windows, “Modern operating systems like Linux and Mac OS X operate under a security model where even administrative users don’t get full access to certain features unless they provide an in-place logon before performing any task that might harm the system. This type of security model protects users from themselves, and it is something that Microsoft should have added to Windows years and years ago… In Windows Vista, Microsoft is indeed moving to this kind of security model. The feature is called User Account Protection (UAP) and, as you might expect, it prevents even administrative users from performing potentially dangerous tasks without first providing security credentials, thus ensuring that the user understands what they’re doing before making a critical mistake. It sounds like a good system. But this is Microsoft, we’re talking about here. They completely botched UAP.”
“The bad news, then, is that UAP is a sad, sad joke. It’s the most annoying feature that Microsoft has ever added to any software product, and yes, that includes that ridiculous Clippy character from older Office versions. The problem with UAP is that it throws up an unbelievable number of warning dialogs for even the simplest of tasks. That these dialogs pop up repeatedly for the same action would be comical if it weren’t so amazingly frustrating. It would be hilarious if it weren’t going to affect hundreds of millions of people in a few short months. It is, in fact, almost criminal in its insidiousness,” Thurrott writes. “…the dialogs stack right up, one after the other, in a seemingly never-ending display of stupidity. Indeed, sometimes you’ll find yourself unable to do certain things for no good reason, and you click Allow buttons until you’re blue in the face. It will never stop bothering you, unless you agree to stop your silliness and leave that file on the desktop where it belongs. Mark my words, this will happen to you. And you will hate it.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We won’t hate it, Paul. We’ll be using Mac OS X Leopard, not a “amazingly frustrating… sad, sad joke… almost criminal… botched” copy of it. The real “sad, sad joke” is that Microsoft seems to have convinced so many that they need Microsoft in order to partake in personal computing. More people would be far better off if they had fewer or no Microsoft products anywhere near their computers. Tell that to most people and they’ll look at you with mouths more agape than usual, but it’s a fact. 100% Microsoft-free and loving every minute of it.
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Related article:
Defending Windows over Mac a sign of mental illness – December 21, 2003
Mac users should not buy Microsoft software (or hardware) – May 16, 2003
Eric:
You can’t run that ad yet. Windows XP lets you run viruses, adware and spyware with no problem or notification. You will need to wait until Vista is released to run your ad. You should hold off on filming because MS might change the name of Vista again before it is released.
Good concept though!
A gawky, powerless young boy — heir to a banking tycoon — grows up to balance the cosmic playing field by vanquishing, then stealing from the middle-class and with deductible generousity gives it to the poor.
I shall forever be in awe of, SuperGeek — The Noble.
– – –
On the hero’s tomb is written
Not what he was, but what he should’ve been
And nothing you can do will change the circumstances
Just a mild infuriation with statistics of sin
Hello All,
Interesting comments, but. . . . you should read his full article. It is so full of hate, dislike, etc.
But. . and here is the great part . . . if you read the first 4 articles in the series, Paul goes from “But Microsoft has pulled a fast one. The February CTP isn’t just good, it’s great. In fact, I’m feeling better about Windows Vista than I have in a long, long time.” to the simmering hate.
The funny thing is that he seems to run either hot or cold. He either loves MS and Vista or hates it. He just can’t seem to make up his mind. And when he compares Apple OS to anything MS, its a begrudgingly attempt to make Apple look less good.
Afterall, there just seems to be no way he can make Apple look bad, even in his warped version of the world.
I am just so so glad . . . . that I am not him.
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N.
“Then you learn new habits and just pretty much OK every request, and get used to typing your password when asked. Once you’re in the new groove, you can cut through the new security messages without taking too much time to read every one.”
I rest my case. This is EXACTLY how user protection will be defeated. Pop up a similar looking, but phoney window that OKs installation of the virus/adware/etc. Lovely.
Windoze Users: an amazing cult of masochists caught in a bizarre nightmarish world.
Oh well!
Zeke I think the scariest part of all this and proof that Windows is unprotectable no matter what the technology actually does (except perhaps incorporate a boxing glove on a spring) is that this contributor didn’t see even the slightest hint of irony in his post.
Funny but Thurrott seems to be so much more bilious against Microsoft since he sold his Intel Mac.
This is a real issue under windows now though too. I sent a client a file today that I had worked on for them only to get an email back that “Outlook would not let them open the file because it thought it was a virus”. !!!
wTF?
I have one word for every Vista user, which I shall repeat every time one of these dialog boxes pop up in their faces:
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha *cough*
Seriously, having used Windows XP for a short time, I thought the number of constant interruptions when you were trying to work was bad enough (most not in response to anything you were actually doing) – but Thurrott says this is much worse? And worse than CLIPPY?
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
@Eric, Great concept indeed!
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@spyinthesky, actually Paul sold his G5 iMac because he “REALLY lacked the ability to run windows on it”, just days before Apple released the iMac Core Duo… if I remember correctly.
Isn’t destiny BRILLANT?
The security stuff in Vista can be turned OFF. It’s optional. If you don’t like it, don’t use it. You know, like choice? Freedom? As opposed to Apple that hates choice and freedom.
Vista has the perfect solution. A rock-solid impossibly secure virus-proof default state, but if you want ease-of-use (that makes Leopard seem like DOS) then you just turn those things off. A couple clicks and bingo.
Aren’t Mac users always going on about “secure default state?” Well Vista has that! And turning the security off is so easy even Apple should be jealous. Best of both world.s
Windokay
The difference between OS X and Windows security is that OS X is still usable running as a least priveleged user while Windows is not.
So I will choose OS X over vaporware.
Thurrott calls Microsoft’s faulty five-year effort to release a functional and promised commercial version of Vista “abysmal”. Now that Thurrott finally recognizes Microsoft’s inadequacies he wants to play the role of superior pundit and inform the rest of the world what has been common knowledge for years. Thanks, Paul, for restating the obvious.
Thurrott’s recent epiphany tells us much more about him than it does explain Microsoft’s failures. Paul’s dismay over Vista’s delays and deficiencies suggests his earlier faith in Microsoft was neither justified nor reasonable. Well, Paul, folks, here at MDN and other Mac sites, have been repeating for years what you have failed to observe until now. Your belated “analysis” only serves to emphasize your previous bias and prejudice. Don’t expect much congratulation from the Mac crowd now.
“The security stuff in Vista can be turned OFF”
uh………….ok
is that something you really want to do???? am I missing something here, or did I miss the irony alert?
You think trading off security for ease of use is ok? I am usually good at spotting ironic humor, but…..
to clear up my last post;
to have to make a choice between security and ease of use is not a choice at all!
Yeah, so VISTA will have the best of both worlds:
The user can choose either:
1/. Security on, but completely unusable; or
2/. Security off, virus infected and insecure – again completely unusable.
Yep, all Mac users must now bow to Microsoft’s superior product offerings, and we must all admit defeat by the superior intelligence of “Windokay”.
Oh…my…god…
(feints in disgust at the new Guinness record for stupidity)
From the article:
they deliver unnecessarily repetitive messages, have a patronizing feel and interrupt…work patterns
Sounds like any other MS product.
MS does everything possible to get IN your way and annoy, er “assist” you. Like that big fat retarded MSN butterfly character from the TV commercials a few years ago. There’s some bad DNA brewing in Redmond.
Anyway if MS managed to outdo their own Clippy, yikes. THAT deserves a medal.
Windokay: Vista has the perfect solution. A rock-solid impossibly secure virus-proof default state, but if you want ease-of-use (that makes Leopard seem like DOS) then you just turn those things off. A couple clicks and bingo.
So it’s either or? Not both? So if you actually want to use the system you have to open the hatch on the submerged submarine… And it makes Tiger (you have no clue what Leopard will be like!) seem like DOS? Wow, what are you doing on this forum if you have such an aversion to the Mac UI? Shouldn’t you be in rehab or out scoring a rock somewhere?
While I admit that some of the aeroglass skin is appealing it also is not user friendly. Multiple windows open side by side with no differentiation between them. Even MS DOS had was easier to use… check out the screen shots in the full linked article. Not an aberration. It’s that way on my buddy’s system with the beta. Beautiful girl but can’t cross the street by herself.
Nope… they just put new lipstick on the same pig and gave it chastity belt. Still a pig. And if you wanna pee you gotta take off your protection and go in the woods where the wolves are waiting.
OK, point taken about Leopard. Maybe it will rock. But we don’t know what Vista will be like yet either. All we have is a very early preview of what it MIGHT be like.
” All we have is a very early preview of what
it MIGHT be like.”
Big lesson about life in general; what starts bad usually ends bad.
And the evidence is mounting…..and the clock is running……..
Windokay, you had better batten the hatches, the flood is coming.
Oh Oh now the non-existent OS does something bad.
It is amazing how well and poorly non-existents OS’s perform. Good thing MDN is keeping us on forefront of non-existent technology.
Back in the day we used to call this sort of thing Sci-Fi.
Dear MDN: Please keep the posts to non-fictional OS’s. Until all of us can go to a CompUSa and buy a copy of Vista any stories about Vista are just another big “So what?”. There is nothiing to speculate about…M$ and others can claim anything their heart desires because nobody with integrity can verify. Anyone running the beta of the new M$ OS is a Dvorakian M$ minion, and they make sure of that.
Honestly there are too many real products for Apple machines and “big picture” media and wallstreet stories. Why waste any bandwidth being an M$ hype facilitator. Wait ’til the final OS comes out (that would be the Beta version to OS X and Unix users, the final release will called SP something or other). Then we can all have fun bashing the real thing.
Windokay: I agree. As much as I deplore the MS hegemony (and find their products inferior) I can’t imagine that MS would be so ignorant of users needs as to ship something so obviously flawed (all rhetoric aside). At this time though it sure seems like nothing but another kludge (UAP that is). I don’t think anyone can argue with that. If they don’t fix it then they are in serious trouble and the predictions of “game over” will prove accurate.
Thats it!! Why not include the security features in the name of the OS. Change Vista to:
“Windokay”
TheNewMacDude nailed it…
“This is what happens to a company that has gained market share unfairly. You know, like the guy that gets away with cheating until they can’t anymore and finally fail miserably.”
Sometimes sh*t flows up hill.
windokay:
Microsoft promised a digital version of a hot babe of amazing form, figure, wit, and intelligence and, after many years of trials and tribulation, delivers a beta version of a stinking schizophrenic hag with a foul attitude.
In transit through the Philippine Air Lines terminal yesterday, I noticed the schedules sign had a dialog box that went something like this: A critical event failed to execute …. Tell Microsoft about it? My kids were in stitches. Five minutes later we came across another schedules sign; the dialog box had been cleared. Ah, what a picture it would have made!
MW: office.
M$ is its own worst enemy. Everyone should be thankful to Balmer and Gates for having a hand in their own destruction. Keep up the good work guys.
But remember, Vista is still about a year away and possibly a lot more. These fools may start listening and fix a thing a two before that bloated pig Vista is wheeled into stores sometime before the decade ends.