By Loyd Case

We've got a question for home users of Windows XP:

How many of you use Windows XP limited accounts? Raise your hands.

Not surprisingly, the answer turns out to be "not many." Windows XP limited accounts were too, well, limited. Many applications simply didn't work properly under limited accounts, because application writers didn't follow the rules. The net result is that the vast majority of Windows XP users are system administrators. Running with administrator privileges is a root cause of many of XP's well-documented security woes.

Even if applications worked properly in XP limited accounts, other inconveniences would crop up. You can't install certain applications or drivers, for example. If you need to do something that requires admin capability, you have to log out of your account and re-log in to an account with administrator privileges.

Windows Vista will enhance the scope of limited accounts, which will be called "standard user accounts." Let's take a closer look at how standard user accounts work, and why you'll want to use them.

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