Comment Rant opportunity (Score 1) 1070
I have been purely running Linux at work for about the last year - previous to that it was a bit of a mix or XP and Linux. I recently got myself a shiny new machine at home and I opted to have Windows XP Home installed for games and the girlfriend and dual-boot into Linux for development work.
After using Linux for so long, Windows REALLY PISSES ME OFF. I can now see why Microsoft believe why security and usability don't go together, but only on Windows (On Linux its not a problem, IMHO)!
I run Windows from a non-administrator account, as is sensible and good for security reasons. The problems are as follows:
1) when I download a program and want to install it, I download it as non-admin user to my downloads directory. I then open said directory in Explorer, right-click, select Run As... , select Admin, provide password, seems to run fine until I get an error saying that Admin cannot read a file, blah , blah, blah. Bit strange, as it could read the installer to run the file....
So, while still logged on as a regular user, I copy the file (file X.exe now called Copy of X.exe), right-click, select Run As..., select Admin, and this time it works!! For the love of all that is holy what is going on here?!?!?!
2) On XP home there is a weird file permissions mechanism unlike on XP pro. For some reason, when logged on as Administrator, I cannot modify another users files. This is fact. You can Google for this, as I am too lazy to provide a link. For the love of all that is holy what is going on here?!?!?!
3) what the fuck is fast user switching all about? It's crap and it's slow. When I try to access admin functions from a non-admin account can't I be prompted for a password for the Admin user?!! Why can't I run the control panel using Run As... in a non-admin account??? There is no obvious way to do it. I have to keep "Fast" user switching all the fecking time.
4) When having logged on as Admin, then switched to a non-admin account via "Fast" user swithing without logging off Admin user, the non-admin user still gets application windows popping up from the Admin login! (MSN Messenger being the prime culprit). Bit of a security problem you would think.
Anyway, I look forward to hearing like-minded criticism, solutions, suggestions, where to buy good stress toys and such.
Thanks for reading :0)
After using Linux for so long, Windows REALLY PISSES ME OFF. I can now see why Microsoft believe why security and usability don't go together, but only on Windows (On Linux its not a problem, IMHO)!
I run Windows from a non-administrator account, as is sensible and good for security reasons. The problems are as follows:
1) when I download a program and want to install it, I download it as non-admin user to my downloads directory. I then open said directory in Explorer, right-click, select Run As... , select Admin, provide password, seems to run fine until I get an error saying that Admin cannot read a file, blah , blah, blah. Bit strange, as it could read the installer to run the file....
So, while still logged on as a regular user, I copy the file (file X.exe now called Copy of X.exe), right-click, select Run As..., select Admin, and this time it works!! For the love of all that is holy what is going on here?!?!?!
2) On XP home there is a weird file permissions mechanism unlike on XP pro. For some reason, when logged on as Administrator, I cannot modify another users files. This is fact. You can Google for this, as I am too lazy to provide a link. For the love of all that is holy what is going on here?!?!?!
3) what the fuck is fast user switching all about? It's crap and it's slow. When I try to access admin functions from a non-admin account can't I be prompted for a password for the Admin user?!! Why can't I run the control panel using Run As... in a non-admin account??? There is no obvious way to do it. I have to keep "Fast" user switching all the fecking time.
4) When having logged on as Admin, then switched to a non-admin account via "Fast" user swithing without logging off Admin user, the non-admin user still gets application windows popping up from the Admin login! (MSN Messenger being the prime culprit). Bit of a security problem you would think.
Anyway, I look forward to hearing like-minded criticism, solutions, suggestions, where to buy good stress toys and such.
Thanks for reading
