Here's the situation: I have a Windows 7 PC and a Windows 8 PC and I'm logged in as the same domain user on both machines. My domain user is in the local Administrator group on both.

When I run cmd.exe on each machine and then attempt to do this (also on both machines)

mkdir "c:\Program Files\cheese"

the Windows 8 PC gives an "Access Denied" error, while it works fine on the Windows 7 PC.

I understand that C:\Program Files is a protected folder and I'm not interested in a debate on the morals of writing to such a folder directly. But I am interested in understanding what exactly has changed in Windows 8 to cause this. I don't seem to be able to find anything that acknowledges or explains this change in behaviour in Windows 8.