One of the first pieces I wrote when I joined Download Squad covered Microsoft SteadyState, a free application that caches changes to your operating system and can remove all traces of them on rebooting. Now it looks as though that functionality will be part of the Windows 7 core - with one major improvement.
Whereas SteadyState will lock down your entire system, PC Safeguard can be configured on a per-user basis. Making changes under SteadyState can be a bit cumbersome and usually requires at least one reboot. With PC Safeguard, you've got two options. First, you log off the protected user and log in with your administrative account.
Second, you can simply run a command as an administrative user and the changes will persist. For example: right click the Firefox installer, run it as the administrator, enter the password, and it's there to stay.
Safeguard can also lock any hard drive you specify to prevent write access with just a couple of mouse clicks. There's a bit of startup delay when logging in a protected user, but it's barely noticeable.
It's a much more user-friendly way to prevent potentially harmful changes to a home system, and just one more feature that will make Windows 7 look good, and make Vista Ultimate owners very, very angry. Have a look at the gallery to see how it works!
Gallery: Windows 7 PC Safeguard
Windows 7's PC Safeguard sandboxes user accounts - Download Squad
