st: re: problems with Windows Vista

[Kit Baum <baum@bc.edu>]

<>
Gaby said

I always run Stata as administrator in windows vista, for updating or  
not. I find, it runs smoother.


The whole point of having an administrator role or, as in Unix/Linux/ 
MacOSX, a 'superuser' is to ensure that any 'ordinary' user process  
cannot stomp on stuff that should be left alone (not only other users'  
files, which may not be at issue for a single-user system, but more  
importantly system files). You could probably run any Vista system (or  
*nix system) all the time as admin (or 'root'), but it would be a Very  
Bad Idea. The fact that Vista requires you to (at least some of the  
time) use admin privilege to work with a statistical package (i.e., to  
upgrade its executable or ado-files) is an illustration of why  
Windows--even Vista, with its touted improvements--has had such a poor  
track record with regard to system security, viruses, malware,  
spyware, etc.etc. On a *nix system, I can install, update and run  
Stata without acting in an admin role. On a *nix server, I have to  
make a few changes using admin privileges to make Stata available to  
all users. But that does not apply to a single-user *nix system. But  
maybe Windows 7 will be able to catch up with the *nix security model  
circa 1975.

Kit Baum, Boston College Economics and DIW Berlin
http://ideas.repec.org/e/pba1.html
An Introduction to Modern Econometrics Using Stata:
http://www.stata-press.com/books/imeus.html


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