The UAC prompt takes a long time to come up on my laptop on both Windows 7 and on Vista. On my Desktop on Windows 7, it comes up pretty fast.

The issue, according to Chris Jackson at Microsoft, is that when the UAC dims the screen, it relies on the video card, and if the video card is slow to handle the dimming, then obviously you can't just get a new video card. The simple solution (in Windows 7) is to move the UAC setting down one level, such that it doesn't dim the screen. Unfortunately, I don't believe you have this kind of control in Vista.

Of course, not having the UAC dim the screen opens you up to spoofing attacks. But like anything else, hopefully your Anti-virus or Anti-spyware will catch the attack before it happens. Without the dimming, the prompt comes up instantly for me. Anti-virus/spyware isn't perfect, but there is definitely a trade-off with waiting for the prompt to come up. With dimming, it was taking a good 4 or 5 seconds for the prompt to appear, and another 4 or 5 for it to restore the screen. That's just far too long. It's a shame that the UAC prompt by default, relies so heavily on the video card (even in Vista). Fortunately, I've never come across spoofing of the UAC yet. Knock on wood. I don't want to disable the UAC prompt completely, because its saved my butt a few times, mostly from malicious ads that are on well-known, "safe" sites.

I have reported the issue to Microsoft as Windows 7 Feedback.

I saw this book in a local bookstore and just couldn't resist taking a pic. Too funny. 2nd Edition, even. Srsly, can you really consider yourself a hacker if you learned from a "for Dummies" book? n_n