Hmmmmm, have kept UAC off for a while, after reading this its gone back on tho.

I think that’s a good idea. I never really had a problem with an excessive about of UAC prompts in Vista. I really only had one a day and then was when I was updating my Firefox 3 nightly builds.

Yeah, there is a delay but that’s because Windows is switching into a “Secure Desktop” mode (that’s when the screen dims). This is the same mode that you get when you press Control+Alt+Delete, and the reason it’s special is that it prevents another application from interacting with elements shown on the screen. That way a program can’t unknowingly press the “Continue” button on a UAC prompt.

They do need to make the prompts more informative, and what I would actually like to see them do is suggest a “warning” level in the prompt. For example, something trying to modify a critical system file should be a huge red flag.

Secondly, the real question is – what is the actual warning given within the UAC? I mean, if it just says that a program is trying to install, then who wouldn’t say “yes”? Most root kits (like most malware) are installed WITH other software, so if you get a UAC warning for installing “something”, and you are actually installing some software, what’s to say you won’t click “OK” on the UAC prompt? My guess is (based on existing UAC prompts) that they are as uninformative as they have been in the past… ie, there is nothing there to tell you what’s REALLY triggering it.

Whenever you have malware user behavior is the most important first line of defense. If a dubm user will just let any program run and disables UAC he’s in for a system infested with trojan, viruses and rootkits. On the other hand, a knowledgeable user can use XP or Vista without UAC on and be totally responsible and user the system in a clean and safe way.