Windows 7: Vista minus the nagging

UAC in Vista is good medicine but hard to swallow; Windows 7 promises to improve the taste

In recent weeks I've had the chance to chat with many Windows admins about the tech media's unfair treatment of Windows Vista and Windows 7. These are well-known Windows experts such as Jeremy Moskowitz, creator of PolicyPak, and well-respected journalists such as Greg Shields, who is taking aim at InfoWorld's "patently biased" Windows 7 compatibility calculator this week in his Realtime Community blog.

Now Derek Melber, a true legend in the field of Windows know-how and technical training, is fuming over ignorant comments regarding the UAC (User Account Control) technology in Vista and Windows 7.

For those of you who aren't aware of Derek Melber, here is a mini-bio: Derek Melber, MVP, MCSE, and author of BrainCore.Net, is one of only a few Group Policy MVPs in the world. His most recent book, "Windows Group Policy Resource Kit: Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista" published by Microsoft Press, provides in-depth information on the new Group Policy Preferences that control all Windows desktops back to Windows XP SP2. He provides custom training and education on Windows AD, Group Policy, and security. You can reach him at derekm@braincore.net.

[ Measured by runtime specs and performance benchmarks, Windows 7 and Windows Vista are a nearly identical match, although in all honesty we are dealing with a pre-Beta. | If Windows 7 is a dead end (and it's too far off from release date to say that it is), what's next? Several new personal computing paradigms are emerging. ]

If anyone has the inside scoop on UAC, it would be Derek. And with this technology getting so much bad press, I asked Derek a few questions about its implementation in Vista and in Windows 7.

JPB: Derek, there's no escaping the fact that users have plenty of complaints regarding UAC in Vista. What is your overall view of the problem and how do you think Microsoft is going to address it?