Kurt Shintaku's Blog

The question that people always ask me is, "Why is Windows Vista so annoying?  It asks for authorization to execute virtually EVERYTHING & ANYTHING in the OS."

This is an interesting problem.  Basically the reason comes down to the fact that any program that is not written in managed code can potentially be dangerous – i.e. be a virus/trojan – on a person’s Windows Vista PC.  Being that most applications are binary direct Win32API written, it’s very difficult to ascertain what code is bad and what code is good when it is being executed.

NOT JUST A WINDOWS PROBLEM
For the record – this is a problem that exists on every platform.  Windows is simply the biggest target platform and its users more often than not simply don’t know whether or not a program is doing "bad" or "good".  And it’s getting worse because many of today’s viruses & trojans/malicious code is written by not just "hackers" or "script kiddies" but actual individuals affiliated with organized crime.  The goal is usually the collection of credit card numbers, bank accounts, identities (social security numbers in particular) etc.

ANY PROGRAM MIGHT BE A THREAT
Again, the issue is that it’s hard to ascertain the trustworthiness of most of today’s applications.  The recent announcement of how opening a seemingly innocuous Adobe Acrobat document can easily execute any code on an unsuspecting user’s machine is a precise example of why Windows Vista is so vigilant in protecting every execution point on the operating system.

You may be thinking, "Yeah, but I’m smarter than that."  Well good for you.  The majority of computer users aren’t.  Think of the small business owner who makes nuts & bolts in a small town in Oklahoma who sells his products over the Internet.  Do you think he knows what programs to be wary of?  What attachments to be concerned about?  Remember:  We’re talking things like .PDF files now that he might have received from what he believes to be some prospective customer on the Internet.

That’s most of the Windows users out there.  They’re interested in BUSINESS – the computer is just a tool to get real work done.  We have an obligation to protect those users, hence the mechanisms in Windows Vista.