Running Windows Vista

I've made the jump to Windows Vista RC1 (Build 5728) yesterday.  Two things I did off the bat.

Disable UAC

Why? After a fresh OS installation I will most likely spend the day installing the programs that I use regularly.  Standard User rights and UAC slows the process down.  I pretty sure I know what I'm doing and I take full responsibility for any unsecure actions I may make.  Overall, I'm still undecided about the benefits of UAC for power users; I might not re-enable this feature.

Here's how to disable UAC:
Windows Vista Secret #4: Disabling UAC

Fix the Power Button

The Power Button on Vista defaults to Sleep mode.  There are a few problems with this for me.

  • Most likely when I hit the power button, I intend to Shutdown and not Sleep.  When I think of sleep mode, I think of closing the lid of my laptop.
  • Vista takes it time to wake up from sleep mode.  The OS is awake but my mouse (Logitech MX1000) takes a minute to function.  My keyboard (MS Natural Keyboard) remain unresponsive after sleep mode.

Here's how to change the Power Button to Shutdown:
Vista: Start Menu Power Button

 

Besides these two changes, so far I'm really digging Windows Vista RC1 5728.

posted on Tuesday, September 26, 2006 7:20 PM by AlanL

Comments

# re: Running Windows Vista

Wednesday, September 27, 2006 7:10 AM by Dave Murdock
Dude you have to leave UAC on. If for nothing else, if you are developing Windows apps you have to see what your users are going to see. Maybe you can run Vista in a VM for that.

UAC looks like an annoyance, certainly compared to the much simpler mechanism that's in OS X, but I have little doubt that it could stop some classes of attacks from succeeding. I have a few choice screenshots of UAC in action on RC1 from when I installed Windows that I have to post on the blog.

# re: Running Windows Vista

Monday, October 02, 2006 11:40 AM by Alan Le
Done with my initial computer setup. I'm re-enabling UAC.