Does a UAC make the idea of an administrator account unnecessary?

[MadRat]

The UAC (User Account Control) features of both Vista and Win7 seem a paradox to me. In order to install programs and basically affect anything at the system level one has to approve the changes through the UAC. Older versions of Windows used the idea of accounts to make these changes, which is why pretty much everyone used to log in as the administrator account when it came to a "home" machine. Even better yet (or worse from the perspective) the Win9x versions didn't even require any specific account to change the system. Sure you can turn off the UAC prompts, but that is basically making your shiny new version of Windows act like a Win9x.

It seems like if there is going to be a UAC then the whole idea of "accounts" is obsolete in the future Windows world. A single master password would do and if multiple people are going to share the machine then perhaps each could use their own "profile" to store settings. Otherwise everyone is a simple user.

 

[ViRGE]

You still need differentiation between accounts. Every user needs their own account, and some users should not have admin access (which necessitates that a non-admin user account type exist).

 

[Nothinman]

UAC is another layer on top of the account permissions. Even users in the local Administrator group get UAC prompts, they just don't have to enter the Admin password to approve the action.

 

[MadRat]

I see what you are saying ViRGE, but the local "administrator" account in the Windows world is the highest level account on the machine. Nothingman touches on the UAC prompts for that account. My premise is that a single top account is no longer necessary if there is going to be a UAC. If you have any local account but the local administrator account you have UAC prompts in your face.

When the majority of Windows sales are to the home market, it just seems like an unnecessary step. A single "master password" should suffice.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: MadRat
If you have any local account but the local administrator account you have UAC prompts in your face.

The reason for the UAC prompts affecting even a Local Administrator is to keep malware from taking over a machine without permission. Since many (most) people run as a Local Administrator, giving the Local Administrator "complete" control is dangerous. It means that anything running under the Local Administrator's auspices (like when the Local Administrator opens a web site and drive-by malware on that site starts running) now has full control of the PC without asking.

Given the current state of technology, UAC (and its permissions system) is a decent compromise. It combines the "sudo" security model of in Unix with the better ease-of-use of Windows.

A single password on a PC, especially a home PC, is asking for trouble. People want privacy and there's a need to limit access and to limit who can modify the PC. Hence, multiple accounts and multiple passwords.