Top 5 Security Reasons to Use Windows Vista

June 12, 2008 – 8:32 AM

I cannot disagree with anyone that is apprehensive in moving from the current Windows desktop operating system that is installed for the majority of your users’ desktops to Windows Vista. We have all seen or heard the horror stories from past operating system upgrades. Applications do not work, drivers are not available, users do not adapt well… etc. Well, Vista does exhibit some of these issues. However, there are some compelling security reasons to make the move. In reality, I am going to suggest that you make the move for the IT staff immediately! This article describes the top 5 security based reasons to move to Windows Vista for all users in the environment. The reasons are valid and very reasonable.

UAC for Standard Users

User account control (UAC) went through numerous iterations and name changes during the Beta period for Windows Vista (code named Longhorn). The goals for solving end user issues were high and the results were reasonable. If your goal for UAC is to solve the LUA (Least privilege user access) bug, then you should continue on to bullet number two. UAC does not solve the LUA bug in any way shape or form. If you are not familiar with the LUA bug, it is the problem that is caused by poorly coded applications that force users to be local administrators in order to run applications. There are fixes to the LUA bug, if you go to XYZ you will find articles written to solve this issue.

What UAC does for end users is protect them against malware, adware, and other misbehaving applications that are running in the background. We all know that end users will click on nearly every radio button, read every email, and install any “fun or humorous” application. UAC is available to help protect the computer from the end user. The key to UAC is that any action that requires “administrative privileges” will prompt the user for the required credentials. If the user is not an administrator, the task can not be performed!

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