Comments on: Microsoft: Stop the Sneaky Firefox Sabotage!

By: Midna

Midna — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:20:24 +0000

I have the Microsoft .NET Framework assistance 1.0 and the Java Quick Starter 1.0 and was also wondering how they got there. Does Firefox have a patch to keep it from installing yet?

Also, many times my browser runs really slow (like dial-up slow or slower) and I’m on high-speed internet. Could these addons be the cause of it?

By: Objectman

Objectman — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:17:06 +0000

Oh for God’s sake. The whole world is going pull marketing and these guys are putting even more oomph into “pushing”.

Idiots.

By: brothercake

brothercake — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:21:57 +0000

naive decision? More like they thought they’d get away with it but didn’t.

Stuff like this is institutional at Microsoft – like racism in the police – and it’s never gonna change while Steve Balmer is there.

By: Craig Buckler

Craig Buckler — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:20:07 +0000

@adimauro
There are very good reasons why Microsoft’s add-on is far worse than Sun’s. Read through the comments, especially here.

I don’t know of anyone at SitePoint who’s anti-Microsoft for the sake of it. Many articles feature MS in a positive light, e.g. the majority supported MS’s stance on removing IE from Windows 7 in Europe.

However, in this instance, Microsoft made a very naive decision which I suspect they regret (they wouldn’t have issued a patch otherwise).

By: adimauro

adimauro — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:51:35 +0000

There is such a strong anti-Microsoft feeling running around SitePoint, that’s not a surprise. But, this article is quite biased. Big letters ‘MICROSOFT STOP YOUR SABOTAGE!’ and then you sneak in at the end…oh, by the way, Sun is doing the same thing. Why no Sun bashing, too? Afterall, the MS add-on has an option to inform you before it does anything. No options at all in the Sun add-on.

It’s not that I’m some big Microsoft supporter, or anything, but the extremely biased comments and articles here have really turned me off to SitePoint. I think I’m going to move on to other blogs…where things can be more openly discussed without all the negativity. Afterall, MOST companies have done bad things over the years, but it seems that bashing Microsoft, even if they do something right, is the fashion these days.

By: Craig Buckler

Craig Buckler — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:17:39 +0000

@Dan Grossman
Thanks for the information. (I wasn’t serious about MS reading this article, but they’ve been slammed for it so it doesn’t surprise me that a patch has been released).

I’ve already applied the downloadable patch which makes the add-on removable. Let’s hope the new update doesn’t add it back again!

By: Dan Grossman

Dan Grossman — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:17:51 +0000

@Craig: The update came out a few days ago, and it would’ve been in the pipeline for weeks at minimum, so no, it’s not because of this post ;)

It’s part of the latest update to the .NET framework, with important priority so it’s an auto-install like the update that added the extension was.

Specifically, it reinstalls the Firefox addon in user mode instead of machine mode, so the uninstall button becomes available as a side-effect.

By: Biju

Biju — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:58:22 +0000

People need something to spread ill about Microsoft…

By: Craig Buckler

Craig Buckler — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:15:14 +0000

I’m not aware of it in the last Vista update, so perhaps it’ll turn up next Tuesday? It’s probably a co-incidence … or perhaps someone at Microsoft is reading SitePoint?!!

I still think they should either remove the add-on altogether or give users the option to install/reject it. Even an alert message would help.

Anyway, well done Microsoft. You may have made the mess in the first place, but at least you’ve attempted to clear it up.

By: boen_robot

boen_robot — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:36:18 +0000

@Craig Buckler

Have MS released the fix as an automatic update?

Yep. I can confirm that. I received it yesterday, shortly before my last post. I noticed it after it though. Note that I have Windows Vista, so there may be different schedules for Windows XP’s automatic updates. Also, unless you go to “http://update.microsoft.com/”, you’ll have to wait until your Windows copy decides to check for updates, which may take a while, depending on your last check.