<P> User Account Control ( UAC ) is a technology and security infrastructure introduced with Microsoft 's Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 operating systems , with a more relaxed version also present in Windows 7 , Windows Server 2008 R2 , Windows 8 , Windows Server 2012 and Windows 10 . It aims to improve the security of Microsoft Windows by limiting application software to standard user privileges until an administrator authorizes an increase or elevation . In this way , only applications trusted by the user may receive administrative privileges , and malware should be kept from compromising the operating system . In other words , a user account may have administrator privileges assigned to it , but applications that the user runs do not inherit those privileges unless they are approved beforehand or the user explicitly authorizes it . </P>
what is the purpose of the uac box
limiting application software to standard user privileges until an administrator authorizes an increase or elevation