As a company, and as individuals, Microsoft (MSFT) really does value honesty and openness. Consider this: In a presentation yesterday at RSA 2008 in San Francisco, David Cross, a product unit manager at Microsoft, explained the design concept behind the User Account Control in Windows Vista in the following very honest, very open way:
“Elitist” seems to be the word of the week so I’ll apply it to those who “hate” this feature.
You can pretty much “see” that so-called “power users” hate this the most. That maybe true, but the “elitist” in them would like you to believe that everyone is a power user. Hmmm…
And then there are those that wage the usual “religious” OS wars. Well, it does take a power user to make most of those other OSes to work anyway, so I guess their annoyance is probably more valid.
But to the “usual user” (not casual - are there truly “casual users” anymore?), while it may be good for the ego to think that you’re a power user, the suggestion (and link) to disabling this feature permanently is probably the perfect example of why you’re not (a power user).
My reservation on VISTA is more on resource requirements, and I think that’s one area where annoyance is valid. But UAC? Quoting one poster (not verbatim):
“Being annoyed at this, is just like beying annoyed at a firewall prompting (or blocking) access.”
So to all those “annoyed” people, yeah, go ahead and turn your firewalls (or IPSes) off too. Then let’s talk about your happy surfing experience after a few days….
John Paczkowski has been poking fun at the tech industry and the personalities that drive it since 1997. From 1999 to 2007, he wrote the award-winning tech news Web log Good Morning Silicon Valley for the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley's daily newspaper.
Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.
Take the famous ballads and duets of West Side Story, insert a dozen mentions of famous social media sites like twitter and facebook, and this is what you get.
Music videos recreated with new lyrics based on what’s actually happening in them. Daydream Believer and Total Eclipse of the Heart are particularly good.
In response to numerous e-mails, I have no idea what planet the giant alien creature is from. Judging from its enormous gills, I’d have to guess it’s from a watery planet. Reminder: please let me know if you plan to be in the office on Memorial Day so I can request HVAC for your floor.
For those of you who mock the wolf shirt beware. There is an old Navajo story about a young man who made fun of another man for wearing a wolf trio shirt. Legend has it that in his sleep, the wolves on the other man’s shirt came to life and tore his body to shreds. They never found any part of that man’s body. The Wolf is something to be respected and feared, not treated like a novelty.
Comments
“Elitist” seems to be the word of the week so I’ll apply it to those who “hate” this feature.
You can pretty much “see” that so-called “power users” hate this the most. That maybe true, but the “elitist” in them would like you to believe that everyone is a power user. Hmmm…
And then there are those that wage the usual “religious” OS wars. Well, it does take a power user to make most of those other OSes to work anyway, so I guess their annoyance is probably more valid.
But to the “usual user” (not casual - are there truly “casual users” anymore?), while it may be good for the ego to think that you’re a power user, the suggestion (and link) to disabling this feature permanently is probably the perfect example of why you’re not (a power user).
My reservation on VISTA is more on resource requirements, and I think that’s one area where annoyance is valid. But UAC? Quoting one poster (not verbatim):
“Being annoyed at this, is just like beying annoyed at a firewall prompting (or blocking) access.”
So to all those “annoyed” people, yeah, go ahead and turn your firewalls (or IPSes) off too. Then let’s talk about your happy surfing experience after a few days….
Posted by Ed Chavez at April 14th, 2008 at 8:59 am