This snippet from Chapter 9 of Greg Shields’ new book Windows Server 2008: What’s New / What’s Changed is brought to you by SAPIEN Press. Get your pre-release copy at http://www.sapienpress.com/Windows_Server_08.asp.
User Account Control
For many Vista users, UAC is a four-letter word. Seeing that elevation prompt over and over again when doing administrative work on a Vista box can be enough to pull your hair out. But there’s value in keeping it, because the Admin Approval Mode (AAM) prompt is only part of the protection UAC provides. In Server 2008, UAC isn’t going anywhere. Microsoft intends it and the splitting of your administrator access token to be a critical part of securing operating systems for the foreseeable future.
With Server 2008 there is a slightly different way that UAC operates with the built-in administrator account. The AAM prompt is disabled by default for the built-in administrator account in both Vista and Server 2008. But, whereas Vista’s built-in administrator account is disabled by default, with Server 2008 it’s a much needed component. With the changes to Server 2008’s installation routine, manual installations require the use of the built-in account for the initial logon and configuration.
More info and links to all the posts in this series at Greg’s Realtime Windows Server Community…
