The reason that Microsoft made home users Admins is historical. Before Windows XP was released, all home users used Windows 9x/Me--operating systems that basically ran on top of MS-DOS and had absolutely no security at all. Most early OEM Windows XP installations also had their hard drives formatted with FAT32, not NTFS which is necessary for file security. So that old Windows 9x/Me and MS-DOS software had to run on Windows XP home or people would not have upgraded to it. Also for YEARS software had to be designed to run on both Windows 9x and Windows XP (Really Windows NT 5.1). And also, for YEARS, many IT departments also continued to use Windows 98 because the hardware for Windows XP was just too expensive. But I do blame Microsoft for rushing Vista out the door with a poorly implemented and tested UAC. Beta testers screamed when it was introduced near the end of the beta without time for proper testing. But they had promised Wall Street and the OEMs that Vista would ship. Major, major design mistakes made Vista late. The first was the attempt to base the file system on SQL. That caused the reset when they had to start over. Another was all of effort that went into AERO at the expense of security. Thankfully many of the people who pushed form over function are no longer part of Microsoft.

Herbert N Swearengen III

Personally I also hate underscores. And so does FxCop! Since according to Microsoft guidelines local parameters should be camel-cased, I use Pascal case for class members. So, instead of "mVariable" or "m_Variable" or "_Variable", I simply use "Variable." Herb :)

Herbert N Swearengen III

Let me set the record straight. I didn't resign over a sound. I resigned because of Microsoft's arrogance and contempt for it's beta testers. I resigned because Microsoft's beta test program manager Paul Donnelly refused the requests of beta testers, including many respected MVPs just like you, to give our feedback to the appropriate product manager. That did not happen until after I made the issue public by contacting Robert Scoble. Here's an excerpt from an email I received from Steve Ball after this became a public debate: "Hi Herbert - FYI, I've enjoyed reading your posts on the Longhorn beta newsgroup tonight. I'm sorry I've been soooo busy that I did not even know this debate was raging here. Having discovered it (via mail from Paul) I sent the blurb below into the discussion tonight." (He enclosed a plea for support of WAVE - Windows Audio Video Excellence.) "How long would it take for the unofficial patch to come out if they ship with this ?" I already know how to fix it. Because this sound does not exist as file anywhere on the hard drive, it is necessary to use ResourceHacker to remove it from a system dll. But Microsoft's largest customers, corporations, do not install "unoffical patches." I was trying to get them to see that this might be one more reason for IT departments to delay or avoid upgrading to Vista. "Will it end anyones life if their PC makes that sound ? Seriously." Probably not. But there are already enought annoyances in life. Have you ever been in a college library and had to listen to that crappy hard-wired Mac sound over and over as people started their MacBooks? I know of professional broadcasters who use software running on Windows. They will not use an OS that may accidentally send some sound to their air. Finally, I felt betrayed and abandoned. I've used and been an avid supporter of almost every Microsoft OS since I first installed the Level II Basic ROM in my TRS-80 back in the 70s. The exceptions: Windows 95, 98 and Me. I went straight from Windows for Workgroups 3.11 to Windows NT 3.1. To me Windows 95, 98 and Me were consumer toys. Now I feel exactly the same way about Windows Vista.

Herbert N Swearengen III

Ha. Ha. When you click "Decline Participation" at Microsoft Connect, your access is cut off within a minute or so. I did get an nice email from Steve Ball (the program manager) right after asking me to reconsider my viewpoint. I'm not saying Microsoft is evil; they are just short-sighted.

Herbert N Swearengen III

Last night I resigned as a beta tester for Windows Vista. It was a protest to their refusal to consider the feedback of many, many beta testers about their new Permanent startup sound. A sound that cannot be turned off with even with a registry key or Group Policy setting. We were told to "unplug our speakers." But I also sent an email to Robert Scoble. He took it from there: [http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/2006/08/24/the-startup-sound-in-vista/#comments](<a href=)[^]" rel="nofollow"> So check it out and leave a comment if you think you should still have some control over your PC.

Herbert N Swearengen III

Yes that does work. What threw me was that there are no longer the words "Printer-Friendy Version" just an icon of a printer and the word "Print." So I didn't try it. The suggestion for the FireFox plugin was also good. I also found a FireFox plugin that does actual mht web archives. It's called MHT! Herb

Herbert N Swearengen III

I've always liked to save the webpage along with the project sample. Since the Code Project website makeover this no longer works with IE6 or IE7. It still works with FireFox but FireFox can't save the page as an archive (*.mht) FYI I've bugged this to Microsoft and they can repro but say it probably won't be fixed until after the RTM of Vista. And only IE7 will be fixed then.

Herbert N Swearengen III