So I’m happily using my computer this evening, browsing around the web, and suddenly the Apple Software Update program pops up. I hadn’t seen it in a while, so I figured there must be an update to iTunes or QuickTime since I have it set to check for updates automatically and those are the only programs from Apple that I have. Then I looked at what Apple wanted me to “update”
Look at that list of software. No iTunes. No QuickTime. No update! They are using their update engine to push out new software. I have never installed Safari, nor do I have any wish to install it. I really hate it when updates try to push new programs on me. The worst offender used to be Java, which would offer me the Google Toolbar and OpenOffice during an update, but this just takes the cake. The worst part is that I almost clicked through the screen without thinking about it. I’ve had adware that was less obnoxious than this. Software updates should be a sacred process, and developers have to fight for the trust of their users. If a user doesn’t trust that an update is important, or this case even relevant, then they are less likely to update. If users are slow to patch and update their software then they leave themselves open and vulnerable to attack. A great example of this is the Code Red computer worm that took advantage of a hole in IIS that had been patched a month earlier. If users had quickly applied the update supplied by vendors, then the worm outbreak could have been prevented. It astonishes me that a major software company doesn’t understand this concept and is willing to stoop to this level of intrusion just for market share. Then again, we’ve already talked about Apple’s lack of regard for the update process.
