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My mom, dad, sister and brother have all separately asked me what the keychain was. I would get many more calls if it was more complicated.

• derefr 18y ago
  And what I'm suggesting here is to simplify the keychain process by adding information. I know that sounds strange, but imagine, instead of a vague window saying "Please unlock keychain blah blah password," you get one that says "Fluffy Bunnies Screensaver is requesting your permission to do things that may harm your computer. Fluffy Bunnies Screensaver is likely to be infected with a virus. [More information dropdown arrow] [Quarantine Fluffy Bunnies] [Continue running Fluffy Bunnies without granting additional permissions] [Grant additional permission]" [more information dropdown] = "Fluffy Bunnies Screensaver has asked for permission open your computer to connections from other Internet users, run programs downloaded from the Internet without informing you, and install a program that loads when the computer starts. These actions together fit the pattern of behavior displayed by many viruses. This does not necessarily mean that Fluffy Bunnies Screensaver is a virus, but if you don't understand why Fluffy Bunnies Screensaver is requesting to do these things, please try to run the program without giving it these additional permissions; the permissions Fluffy Bunnies Screensaver has requested may not be necessary for it to work properly." Only if you click "Grant additional permissions" does the password input field appear/enable. Additionally, below the password box, a listbox also appears with (by-default-checked) checkboxes for each right that the program has requested. If you wish, before confirming your password, you may disable some of the rights, without disabling others. This may, theoretically, allow you to run an infected Installer program (that requires elevation either way) without actually being infected by a virus attached to it. (You might still be infected if the Installer installs the virus.)
  • ams6110 18y ago
    Sadly, the fact remains that users don't read dialog boxes[1]. If you want to make a computing "appliance" that is not going to be subject to attack, you'll have to disallow owner-administrators and software installations altogether. [1] http://www.joelonsoftware.com/uibook/fog0000000249.html http://www.joelonsoftware.com/uibook/fog0000000249.html
    • derefr 18y ago
      I think dialog boxes are simply mismatched to the WIMP paradigm: the user expects to be able to click, navigate, and explore a problem space, when suddenly you're confronting them with a decision that, once made, disappears and cannot be re-made a different way: the antithesis of explorability. If, instead of indivual windows, there were some central "conversation window" where the computer would ask you questions, then leave both the question and answer available for viewing and correction, things might improve. In fact, more things could be presented to the user as "beneficial, but not necessary" decisions to make (changing preferences from their defaults, etc.) This scheme reminds me of SimCity's Advisors window, oddly enough, and also bears a similarity to Windows 7's Action Center. The biggest difference is that every decision would now need a "safe postponement default", in case you don't "check your messages." In the elevation case, programs would have to be rewritten to not expect to be elevated as soon as they ask for it, but rather try to do whatever possible with the priveleges they have, and then queue up a list of things to do if/when they get elevated (which may never happen.) for instance, under this scheme, Installers would always install to a user-writable location, then queue a move operation for post-elevation. The 20% that takes 80% of the work, in this case, is figuring put what to do when the user works outside of the elevation framework: what to do when you move the folder the program was waiting to move, or what to display in the conversation transcript when you change a preference in the Preferences window that you originally chose in the context of a Conversation.f