For the last week the Microsoft world was abuzz with commentary regarding UAC settings in Windows 7. In Windows Vista, User Account Control (UAC) was far too annoying. To make Windows 7 better to use the number UAC prompts were greatly reduced. However, many testers believed too many UAC prompts were removed. Specifically UAC prompts surrounding UAC settings. If a user ran malicious code it could secretly turn off UAC entirely without the user even knowing. Microsoft argued the user already downloaded and ran malware on the computer so it was already infected. However, many believed that by protecting UAC it would limit more damage.
While Microsoft privately pondered the issue the PR game was getting out of control. Many sites were told by Microsoft's PR firm that the feature was by design and it would not be fixed. The response added fuel to the fire and more sites picked up the story. Many users felt Microsoft was not taking the issue seriously, including myself, because the only communication from Microsoft was from their PR firm. In fact, Microsoft had been privately reading the feedback all along. Eventually Microsoft made a public statement on the E7 blog where John DeVaan explained Microsoft's argument and cleared up some misconceptions about the issue.
John's post was a step in the right direction by acknowledging the feedback and the issue it did not give readers any hope that Microsoft would create UAC prompts around changing UAC settings. Many users shared more feedback directly on the E7 blog. Just when everyone thought Microsoft had their mind made up Steven Sinfosky posts a new entry on the E7 blog saying they will be making the requested changes:
With this feedback and a lot more we are going to deliver two changes to the Release Candidate that we’ll all see. First, the UAC control panel will run in a high integrity process, which requires elevation. That was already in the works before this discussion and doing this prevents all the mechanics around SendKeys and the like from working. Second, changing the level of the UAC will also prompt for confirmation.
Personally, I couldn't be happier about the change. I'm confident it will make Windows 7 better and will remind everyone that Microsoft has really listened to their customers in developing Windows 7.