Stealthy Safari
The CEO of Mozilla, the company that makes popular web-browser Firefox, has condemned the inclusion of Apple’s own web-browser – Safari – as a default download for anyone using the Apple Software Update service, regardless of whether they already have Safari installed.
In reference to this practice, Lilly (pictured) said on his blog: ‘…the likely behavior here is for users to just click “Install 2 items,” which means that they’ve now installed a completely new piece of software, quite possibly completely unintentionally.
‘Apple has made it incredibly easy – the default, even – for users to install ride along software that they didn’t ask for, and maybe didn’t want. This is wrong, and borders on malware distribution practices.
‘It’s wrong because it undermines the trust that we’re all trying to build with users. Because it means that an update isn’t just an update, but is maybe something more. Because it ultimately undermines the safety of users on the web by eroding that relationship. It’s a bad practice and should stop.’
Strong stuff – and the subject of over 300 comments since Lilly posted the blog entry on 21st March. Many of these must have accused Lilly of sour grapes in the face of increased competition because he was moved to stress in a subsequent post on the 23rd that he welcomes competition.
‘Competition – and choice – is central to everything we do; without it, we’re nowhere,’ he insisted.
HEXUS.channel can confirm that it nearly unwittingly downloaded Safari when presented with this dialogue box:
We would like to know what HEXUS readers think. Is this sneaky by Apple or fair enough? Is Lilly right to say it’s wrong? Should companies be allowed to introduce new software in update releases? Is ticking the box next to Safari wrong? Please state your opinion in our poll.
