Tech Blog

[#1]

Yes, this is going to be a bit of a tech rant. Leave now if you're not in the mood.

Cranky mode on
Last week, I like many of you, received a windows system tray message notifying us that there was an upgrade available for Java.

And like many of you, I launched the installer and started to go through the process of getting the latest and greatest version of Java.

But then I stopped. After merrily clicking NEXT at all the standard screens this one popped up.

I could have clicked NEXT again, but that would have been a mistake.

Sun, through this Java upgrade process, was about to install the Yahoo! Toolbar on my system, plugging it into my browsers and asking me to use Yahoo! search.

Yes, there is a checkbox indicating that I want to install the toolbar, but it is pre-checked! Sun assumed that I'd want the toolbar. I don't. I didn't ask for it (I did want a Java update though), and I'm happy with my own browser configuration. I've spent a lot of time setting it up the way I want and I don't need some faceless organization messing with it.


Browser Toolbars are good, aren't they?
Perhaps for some, but I've never met one that enhanced my experience. I'm not going to go into all the details on why these toolbars are a bad idea; others have already done that:

• Browser Toolbars - The Good, the Bad and the Unnecessary
• Enough with the Browser Toolbars Already
  
  

No, my beef is that these reputable companies feel the need to insert these unrelated products into their installation routines.

Really, what does Sun and Java have to do with Yahoo! advertising and search? From an end user's perspective, very little. From a corporate perspective, a lot. Advertising and eyeballs. They want mine. I'd prefer to keep them under my control, thank you.

But my less-than-patient friends have just kept clicking NEXT to get Java installed. And now they have the Yahoo! toolbar taking up real estate on their browser. And directing searches to Yahoo! And who knows what else.

And now I (and perhaps you) will have a friend-support call in the near future, as browsers slow down, and perhaps malware finds a backdoor in through the next toolbar installed.

My call? Browser Toolbars are so 1990's. Let's leave them there and move on. What do you think?

[#2]

Apple does the same with Safari. If you have iTunes installed and you do a regular "update" to iTunes, you'll be greeted with a pre-checked option to install Safari on your system.  I've read up on it, and some go as far as classifying it as malware.  Granted, you'll never have to use Safari, but still, it's on your system without you really wanting it there. (As far as I've read, Safari happens to be the least secure browser of all, moreso than IE.)

This, since it would probably directly impact your browsing habits, could in fact, be considered malware.  Rather than going to your homepage it would direct you to Yahoo's homepage, generating hits for them.  It's really sad how low they stoop to get your eyes there.

My homepage has been, since I can remember now, iGoogle, my customized Google homepage which gives me everything I need on one page. And no, I don't want to go anywhere else.

[#3]

This is an outdated practice of which I wholly disapprove. At best, it should be opt-in, rather than opt-out.