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In Microsoft, 2019(1) :
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Default
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Non-Default
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System
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X
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Non-System
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Non-Default Local User Account
The attentive reader will observe the absence of a description for the Non-Default Local System Account. , Microsoft proposes a bi-dimensional partial typology of Windows Local Accounts. A number of empirical entities are typed, which gives us the following table:
Default | Non-Default | ||
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System | X | ||
Non-System | |||
Empirical Entity | Of Identity Class? | Comments | References |
Windows Default Local System Account | Yes |
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Windows Default Local User Account | Yes |
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Windows Guest Account | Yes |
| Windows Local Account | Yes |
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Windows Local User Account | Yes |
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But before getting into that, the first step in analyzing this partial typology is to define its dimensions.
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Empirical Entities in the Microsoft’s Partial Typology of Windows Local Accounts
The attentive reader will observe the absence of a description for the Non-Default Local System Account, which is why the typology is partial.
From that table, the following typology is inferred, where cells represent Windows Local Account types:
Default | Non-Default | |
|---|---|---|
System | X | |
Non-System |
Microsoft’s Partial Typology of Windows Local Accounts
The Default vs. Non-Default Dimension
Per Microsoft, 2019(1), default accounts are built-in accounts created automatically when the OS is installed. Conversely, non-default accounts are non-built-in accounts created after OS installation.
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when an account that is an integral part of the OS is deployed by Microsoft after OS installation as part of an upgrade,
when an account that is an integral part of the OS is deployed as part of the installation of a complementary Windows Component after OS installation,
when an account that is an integral part of the OS is deployed by a third party (e.g.: a device driver, that is defined as a trusted part of the OS that can execute within it with System account credentials, Russinovich et al., 2017),
when a custom account is created as part of a custom script during OS installation.
- Propose here a more precise definition of default that allows the arbitrage of the given counterexamples.
Nevertheless, arbitrages can be made to classify accounts in these grey areas. In consequence, for operational purposes, we may state that the default vs non-default dimension satisfies in general the properties of exhaustivity and mutual exclusivity. That is to say, a Windows Local Account is either an integral part of the OS or it doesn’t and the default vs non-default dimension may be considered an unidimensional typology (cf. Bailey, 1994, p.3).
The System vs. Non-System Dimension
- Complete this section.
Per Microsoft, 2019(1), System accounts are used by the OS and its services.
A Revised Typology
- Check correlation of given types
- Check consistency between definitions and the hierarchical classification of accounts proposed by MS