Works in: 7 You remember , right? Incessant annoyance? Poster child for everything that was wrong with Vista? Yep, that UAC. It's back in Windows 7, and its heart remains in the right place: It's still meant to protect you from running dangerous software or making unauthorized changes to your system--you know, of the malware, identity-stealing variety.

Of course, it can still be annoying, too. Fortunately Microsoft now gives you control over when and why UAC issues warnings. To tweak the settings, click Start, type account, and select Change User Account Control settings. You'll see a slider with four notification levels. By default, UAC is now a little less intrusive than it was in Vista, notifying you only when programs try to make changes and not when you make changes to Windows. Want UAC to take a hike altogether? Drop the slider down to Never notify.

When is an operating system easy to use? When it works the way you want it to work. Here's how to make your Windows life simpler and more productive.