Pop Up Messages on Windows

Now that I've had to move back to Windows for my work environment, I've had to get used to it again. One of the things that has really struck me is how often things pop up demanding my attention. Networking is constantly telling me something, as is MSN Messenger which I don't use but haven't gotten around to turning off. Security updates and settings are constantly popping up as well.

One of the things on the new Windows Vista is that it pops things up WAY more often. Practically any time you run something it asks if you really want to run it. Change a setting, are you sure? I really feel Apple got it right on their system. It asks me when I know it should but not every time. The reason why the Windows approach is bad is that people get used to clicking "OK" every time so when they shouldn't, they don't know any better.

Hopefully there is a way to turn off all this incessant second guessing by the operating system.