Modern Windows versions allow you to set up multiple users with differentiated rights, ranging from administrators to regular users. For various reasons, ranging from default installation settings over the requirements of carelessly written software to laziness, most Windows users are using an user account with administrator privileges in their daily work.

Windows also allows you to run each application with the privileges of a chosen user account. So, while we grudgingly accepted that we won't change people to use restricted user accounts in their daily work, we've decided to pursue a compromise: determine which applications are endangered the most, and allow the user to run those with restricted rights only.

Now, since comfort is the issue that's restricting most users, either directly or through people having set up their system, from using restricted user accounts, we tried to make this process to be as easy as possible, which resulted in Alter Ego. Alter Ego is an application that makes your browser, email application, instant messenger and multimedia player run safer with just three clicks: click here for an animated demonstration.

Supported OS: Win95, Win98, WinME, WinNT, Win2000, WinXP, Win Server 2003, WinXP64, Vista, Win Server 2008, WinPE

  

AlterEgo starts by explaining a few security concepts.

  

AlterEgo allows you to choose an existing or create a new user account.

  

AlterEgo offers you to copy the settings from the current user account to your new, safer one.

  

AlterEgo allows you to create shortcuts to run your apps safely in all the usual places.