Comments on: Think before you install

Software vendors want you to use their software, but you don't always have to install things that pop up on your screen if you don't want them.

[sprybri]

Apple and Adobe share ethics issues

While I agree that Apple's use of its software update feature to
distribute software the user did not request is a poor business
practice, so too is Adobe's practice of pushing Google toolbar on
users who download Acrobat Reader--the option to download
comes back even after you've chosen not to install it. Market share
is one thing, but tricking your users reflects poorly on company
ethics.

[chamber25]

Apple, Not right

In my opinion, this move by apple was totally underhanded and sneaky. First of all i could bet you that lots people who have had Itunes for awhile have stopped really reading what the updates are, because : A: its from a reputable source, and B: people have gotten used to it just being updates for itunes and quicktime. There is a trust their that has been established, people are expecting the updates to be improvements for Itunes or quicktime. Now to suddenly drop a totally unrelated program disguising it as a update to me is sneaky, its like Apple is trying to hoodwink people.

To top that off the Safari download is always checked, meaning they assume people want it, and even if you un-check it the first time it comes back on the next update checked again. What is Apple trying to do badger people into using safari, or maybe hope that after awhile people might forget to un-check it and they get to sneak in a download.

If Apple wanted to push Safari then they could of put a link in in their updater or Itunes to a page that details the advantages of Safari over other browsers, then allow you to download it form that page.

[eeee]

Pay Attention as If it was your dinner plate

--Some people are the world's most picky eaters and examine and sniff their food before they eat it in a restaurant of diner: same tactics should apply to any downloads offered BY ANYONE!
---Stop all this uselss waste of energy whinning and moaning and spend the time paying attention to what tries to sneak in as an update

[Seaspray0]

Don't order it on your plate

I will treat it as the malware it is and not install it in the first place.

[Seaspray0]

No excuse

It's malware. Why are you trying to defend malware? Safari and itunes are NOT an update when they did not exist in the first place. You're right, think before you install... then DON'T INSTALL QUICKTIME IN THE FIRST PLACE.

[The_Decider]

Why don't MS defenders understand tech?

It is not malware, by any rational definition.

It is annoying, but I guess idiots that let it install are the same ones that fall victim to other attacks.

[jypeterson]

"Let's Blame Apple for our Idiocy"

I can't believe this article or anyone else who think that Apple is being an unethical software provider.

Own up to your own clicks and stop blaming companies for distributing "unwanted" software. Why do you think so many people are getting phished and why email viruses spread so quickly?

Sure virus writers and script kiddies send out the initial putrid code, but the only reason why most of this stuff continues is because people are constantly clicking where they shouldn't.

Apple gave iTunes users a choice with Safari (Quicktime is required for iTunes to work completely). Just uncheck the box, check update, and stop blaming others for your own stupidity!!!

[zaznet]

Do a little mor research...

The default is checked and should not be when Safari was never downloaded by the user.

The default is restored after every update. This means you have to change the settings to your preferences every time the software wants to update. This also means you can NEVER use the auto-update feature of Apple products unless you want to instantly acquire any new product they release.

I do agree that users need to look and think before they click something. I've cleaned off more than one web pop-up trojan from friends computers.

[smokified]

Too much to ask?

Is it too much for these companies to ask that people just be responsible for themselves?

Amercians are turning into a bunch of idiot zombies that just autopilot through life. I think software companies are well within the realms of proper practice by assuming that people will be paying attention and using their own brains.

I am not a fan of Apple products, but in this case anyone who is complaining is stupid. Slow down and wake up. You were given a brain, use it.

[joharilanng]

I have a brain ...

... but that doesn't mean it's okay to drive me insane by trying to deceive me when I'm not paying attention.

The reason people are auto-piloting is because they are being bombarded with decisions like this ALL THE TIME, not because they are lazy.

You are right about the slowing down part, it's the only way to deal with the constant stress of having some clown(s) who want to make a buck off you vying for your attention. But a consumer-oriented society doesn't facilitate 'slowing down' since no-one really makes any money of it.

One day, try turning off any device you have that isn't cabled in some way (mobile, PDA, laptop with wireless). It reduces your accessibility, though not fatally, and gives you time to pace yourself.

[Ruhayat]

Mac fanbois would sing a different tune...

...if it was Microsoft doing this on the OS X platform and not
Apple on Windows.

[Penguinisto]

MSFT admitted to pushing Silverlight into MS Office

...SMFT just today admitted that they pushed Silverlight into MS Office for Mac as part of an update.

Of course, MSFT didn't give you the option to not install Silverlight - you're stuck with it if you want to keep MS Office patched (whereas Apple has a great big option to never install Safari).

See the diff?

/P

[cheshirkat]

Then again...

...compared to installing IE, how bad could it be? :-)

-CheshirKat

[Mercury23]

just as bad

I'd uninstall IE if I could.

I'm happy with Firefox. I do not need some little guerrilla campaign of trying to sneak unwanted software on my computer.

It reminds me of installing Yahoo Messenger how you have to Uncheck all the options like Make Yahoo My Homepage, Make Yahoo My Default Search and all that other junk.

The polite and correct way to go about this to have the box unchecked by default and if the user wishes to install, he checks the box and then it downloads and installs.

I hate iTunes for the way it bundles everything. I do not need QuickTime and I definitely do not need Safari.

[Fireweaver]

Paying Attention isn't everything

Tom, you're missing the point here. I wasn't "fooled" by Apple into installing iTunes or Safari but I'm plenty irritated by Apple's shady practices. The reality is that we're in a world where updates are a security necessity and the fact that a major software company abuses

Security updates being used as marketing for products is wrong.

Security updates used for marketing that force you to decline unwanted products every update are both wrong AND annoying

If Apple, as another reader suggests, lists those additional products in their updater but has them defaulting to NOT install I have no issue- I might even like that.

If Apple, like Microsoft, allowed me to say "no thanks" one time and not EVERY time.

What Apple is doing is not illegal, it doesn't force me to install this stuff, but it's a very shady thing and I trust Apple a lot less when they do stuff like this.

And to the Apple crowd who say "It's no worse than what Microsoft does"... Yes, that's right. Aren't you supposed to like Apple because their practices are BETTER than Microsoft? Because you can "trust" them? Apparently Apple thinks that we're unwitting tools as well.

[fredtheviking]

It just plain evil...

Look, the author is right, but he hasn't meet my mom or any of my other family members (who are scared of computers). People shouldn't have to treat software installations from respectable companies like Apple with suspection. Some people will install it, because they don't know better and those who do know better should have to put up with the annoyance.

Apple, Shame you! You should know better!

[andrewdownloader]

Apple lies to us, Safari ins not an update.

Works in both directions, I only installed Safari and QT, I chose not to install iTunes nor Apple Software Update but...Anyway we all know that Mr Jobs take decisions for us, so Apple Software Update was installed without my permission and it "sugests me" to instal iTunes as an Update...How I hate Apple !!

[geast2]

What about when Safari is the only critical "update"

I installed QuickTime, but not iTunes. I had applied the critical update for QuickTime, but for a period of several days, every time I touched the keyboard I had a dialog trying to get me to install iTunes. Now I have to go through the same hassle over Safari!!! Time to uninstall QuickTime.

[pkeyrich]

Safari is a really fast browser

I love Safari, but still use it as an alternate browser to IE7. I also have Firefox, Netscape 9, Opera, and Flock installed. I keep them all because when a web page doesn't work in one, it's easy to test it with another. Also, you can use the different browsers for select logon IDs. I check one ID's accounts on one browser, and other accounts on the others. It makes automatic logons easier for different IDs. I don't like the idea that Apple decided to push Safari via software updates, but at least it is not an automatic install. Microsoft's Windows Updates are all automatic/forced installs by default, yet no one whines about that. People are forced from IE6 to IE7. Again, I like Apple's Safari browser - very fast!

[Wolfie2k5]

Ah.. But you DO have a choice...

You don't HAVE to do automatic updates for Windows. And even if you do, you still have the option of reviewing updates before you let it do it's thing. And even then you can do the custom install instead of the Express. When you do the custom install, you can uncheck items you don't want installed. Don't want IE7? Just uncheck it from the list of stuff to be installed. In fact, if you NEVER want to see the IE 7 update, you can hide it from view and it'll NEVER be prompted to install it again.

No one is being forced to install squat.

[The_happy_switcher]

Get over. At least Macs don't

come with tons of crap you don't want. Learn to read before installing and you will be fine. And oh yeah, I forgot to add that Windows sucks.

[Davoramus]

This is why I am 100% Apple free.

I have been completely happy with my Windows machine, partially because I don't have any Apple software. I will never install Itunes, Quicktime, or Safari, for precisely these kind of complaints. My MP3 player is and never will be an IPod, and works just fine with Windows Media Player, which does everything I need it to do, MP3-wise. Firefox gives me no reason to ever need Safari, and I haven't had a reason to need Quicktime in years. Life is good.

[ferretboy88]

Safari is one ugly browser Mr Jobs

I wanted to try safari on Vista so I downloaded it. After trying it for
a day I had to remove it since it was so Fugly. Apple tries to be so
stylish and fancy but they fall short with Safari. I rather use Firefox
or Opera. Even when using a mac I still use other browsers.

[JwL3394]

I agree, it is good...

I installed Safari on my Vista PC because IE7 kept hanging up. I
love the browser-except for the fact you have to click File>New
Tab to get a new tab- and it's A LOT faster than IE7, and has a lot
of cool features like SnapBack and text box resizing. I didn't get it
through Apple Software Update, but if I didn't like the browser I
would probably be angry Apple pushed it this way.

[Whist34]

Popup install never stops

The main thing I hate about the new bundle is that even when you deselect the check box the next time it runs it will ask to install the program. After about a month I finally gave in and installed itunes even though I never use it just to keep the installer from showing up every week. There is no option to turn this off. I can't even find the installer in the running program list. I'm an educator and just about every education software app that needs video uses Quicktime so I have to keep it installed. What I'd really like is to uninstall everything related to Apple and never have to deal with it again. I find this method to be invasive and monopolistic - can we get a class action lawsuit started pls =)

[letsgetgoing]

big disappointment after installing THAT update

I always clicked through installing apple updates!
Did I get burned this time, can't trust anyone anymore!!! - I'd tested safari before and uninstalled it after it crashed several times. This time I got tricked into installing safari again, but, sure enough, it stalled during installing, leaving me with a partially installed safari! It took a while do get all those tangles straighten out, thanks apple, but no thanks. that thing will stay of my computer. And it is very tricky, to say the least, to update something that was never there in the first place. APPLE HAS TO UPDATE THEIR ENGLISH DICTIONARY AS THE ONE THEY ARE USING IS NOT STANDARD ENGLISH! CCCHHHHIIITTT !!!
LETSGETGOING but without safari!

[Dr_Zinj]

Is Apple a 350 vendor?

People keep telling me that Apple/MAC is so great because nobody is writing malware against it.

Sounds like Apple noticed and are producing their own malware to fill the void.