Vista, the five year old's OS

I got a Mac Pro yesterday and the first thing I wanted to do after it was setup was to install Windows in Parallels, so I could test out my sites in IE/Win. I started on windows over ten years ago and only started migrating to the mac in 2002. About six months ago I finally retired the PC on my desktop but I've missed having it around for the occasional site test in IE.

I decided to install Vista first to get IE7 and see what the state-of-the-art in Windows was like (I'll also install XP and keep it at IE6 later on). After everything was installed, I needed to download a text editor to change a few files on the windows box and that's when I started getting frustrated by all the "safety features" inherent in Vista.

The following is a paraphrasing of the OS system alerts I was bombarded with as I tried to accomplish my simple task (if it sounds anything like this, it's because it felt the same way):

• Whoa, there tiger! It looks like you typed a URL into the address bar. Do you want to turn on the phishing filter? Because the web is really dangerous! No? You really trust websites? Ok.


• You went to a new site! Are you sure you don't want the phishing filter turned on?! No? Really? Ok.


• I'm sorry, but you can't download things directly, please read the warning at the top of the browser.


• You clicked on the warning at the top and said allow downloads, but as the OS I will do nothing at this point.


• You clicked the download link again! Are you sure you want to download that file? It could contain viruses, you know.


• Where do you want me to save it? Nope, sorry, desktop is no longer an option.


• It's done downloading, what do you want to do with it?


• You actually said "Run"?!?! Are you nuts? Ok, I'll run it if you're so sure.


• THIS IS NOT TRUSTED SOFTWARE FROM A TRUSTED SOURCE. ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO INSTALL IT ANYWAY?!?!

I downloaded a few other utilities and this continued, along with all sorts of taskbar balloons announcing all manner of vulnerabilities I was opening myself up to by merely using the computer. After fifteen minutes of this, I gave up and closed my Parallels session.

Is there an "expert mode" in Vista I can set so I'm not treated like this is my first computer the next time I use it?