My biggest gripe about Windows 7 is the impact User Account Control has on the command line. Unless you turn UAC completely off, every time you run something on the command line that Microsoft has deemed requiring your password – even if you’re in the local Administrators group – you get an Access Denied error.
Screw. This. Noise.
This is the “ZOMG!!! If you run things as root you’ll destroy the planet!” Linux model. I don’t like it in Linux, and I definitely don’t like it here. Which mean, yes, when I’m working in Linux I log in as root. Why? One reason is that I want to be able to break things, software-wise. I want to understand why something has broken, how to avoid breaking it again in the future, and how to fix it. Knowing these things makes me a better admin.
The SU/SUDO model doesn’t really stop admins from breaking things, it just gets in their way. Ordinary users need the protection of SU/SUDO, not experienced administrators. It also gets in the way of doing certain things on the command line.
Which brings me back to Windows 7.
Microsoft made UAC much, much better in 7 than it was in Vista. Still, even on its lowest setting, it’s getting in my way. For example, I have a batch file on my computer. Been using it for years. The name of the file is DC.bat and it contains a single line: “defrag c:”. That’s it. In Windows XP, any time I want to defrag the hard drive I hit Windows + R, type “dc” and hit the Enter key. Boom, done. UAC prevents me from doing this in Windows 7, along with a lot of other things on the command line.
Forgive me while I repeat myself: Screw. This. Noise.
I completely understand the need to lock things down on a company network to protect the network from users who don’t know how to not break things, but this is a standalone computer with a single user – me. Also, to toot my own horn, I’m a freaking expert when it comes to Windows. I, and people like me, don’t need to be hamstrung by UAC.
So, finally, I turned it off completely. My computer is now in the undocumented “You’re damned right I’m an expert” mode.
