Ubuntu-style guest account on Windows 7?

Ubuntu 12.04 has a really nice guest account system. When you log in as guest, a temporary account with a random name is created, with its home directory under /tmp; if you log out of the account or reboot, it gets deleted. The guest account is also forbidden from using sudo.

I was thinking that the Windows 7 guest account might be similar, but it seems to use a single account that preserves changes. Is there any way to make Windows delete its settings between logins? How about making it rename the account, and the account's home directory, to something random?

 

I believe Windows Steady State never reuses an account except the admin. But Steady State is no longer available.

 

On further examination, the full features of the Ubuntu guest account may not even be available on Windows - the account has its own AppArmor profile for instance. Whatever you can say about Ubuntu's usability right now, I think Canonical has completely outdone Microsoft on this feature.

Too bad. A secure guest account would be nice, as a more convenient alternative to ISR software.

 

Agreed. I'm impressed by Ubuntu's guest account, too. I've been passively wondering myself whether Windows could do something similar, so thanks for answering that question for me.

I saw a blog post where someone tried to remotely attack Ubuntu's Guest account and found it surprisingly well locked down:
http://www.whenisfive.com/2011/11/22/341/