Apple software - malware

[BamaGrad03 0]

I know I'll get creamed by the Apple fanboys...but good lord Apple, get a clue. I've had problems like this forever with iTunes/Quicktime etc.

http://neowin.net/news/main/08/03/22/apple...n-windows-users

I HATE the fact that iTunes has an update just about every week. I hate the fact that if you just want quicktime, you are FORCED to see the "hey you need to update quicktime...and download iTunes".

Apple finally got around to not taking over your system when you installed iTunes. Only took 5 years.

But just like a comment on that link said: in a few weeks Apple will have a big press conference to announce the overwhelming adoption of Safari...but will fail to mention that the Safari adoption was probably involuntary.

[TitanTiger 21,040]

I know I'll get creamed by the Apple fanboys...but good lord Apple, get a clue. I've had problems like this forever with iTunes/Quicktime etc.

http://neowin.net/news/main/08/03/22/apple...n-windows-users

I HATE the fact that iTunes has an update just about every week. I hate the fact that if you just want quicktime, you are FORCED to see the "hey you need to update quicktime...and download iTunes".

Apple finally got around to not taking over your system when you installed iTunes. Only took 5 years.

But just like a comment on that link said: in a few weeks Apple will have a big press conference to announce the overwhelming adoption of Safari...but will fail to mention that the Safari adoption was probably involuntary.

I'm going to start prefacing Microsoft news with "I know the MS fanboys will go nuts." It seems that anytime someone defends or points out the good about Apple, they are a fanboy but Microsoft lovers are just "normal."

Anyway, I went and checked my update logs. Macs generally get any updates a few days before they are pushed to Windows. I usually update within a day or so of getting the notice. The dates for iTunes:

5/16/05

6/28/05

9/13/05

9/23/05

1/11/06

2/17/06

3/2/06

6/30/06

9/12/06

10/3/06

10/31/06

3/10/07

3/24/07

5/30/07

6/30/07

7/14/07

8/2/07

10/11/07

11/8/07

1/17/08

2/25/08

Twenty-one updates in 33 months. That averages to an update about every 1 1/2 months or every six weeks. And the update pattern for Quicktime is even further apart...about once every 2 months. And many times in the case of iTunes, it was to add functionality such as when they got TV shows or movies available for download or started offering some songs without any DRM.

Now as far as downloading Safari, how is that so horribly egregious compared with the fact that every Windows computer is afflicted comes with IE by default through no active choice by the consumer? I wonder how MS managed to get IE's adoption rate up so quickly? Oh, what's that you say? They forcibly bundled it with Windows and strongarmed computer makers into not preinstalling Netscape and putting their icon on the desktop? How terrible of them!

At least you have the option to uncheck the box.

And don't even get me started on that Windows Genuine Advantage (a name right out of Orwell's 1984 for the amount of spin involved) notification that many people got with Automatic Updates, that then proceeded to phone home to MS and bork up their system if it thought they had a non-legit copy of Windows...often flagging legit systems. Or when a similar trojan horse from MS locked down people's Vista systems, removing options and capabilities because MS's notification servers went down for a couple of days.

That's what malware looks like.

[BamaGrad03 0]

So over the years, when you install an Apple OS, does it not come with Safari installed?

Microsoft MADE THE OS that you are installing. I see no problem with them including their own browser. And if you uninstall IE from Windows, it doesn't try to trick you into reinstalling IE every time you update your video drivers.

[TitanTiger 21,040]

So over the years, when you install an Apple OS, does it not come with Safari installed?

Over the years, no. Safari is a recent addition and yes it now comes installed with Macs...after Microsoft neglected IE for Mac and before Firefox was a viable alternative. Safari was to make sure Mac users had a satisfactory web browser on their systems, period. IE was bundled solely to take out Netscape.

But regardless, the point is, people didn't get to choose whether to have it or not. At least with the Apple Software Update they are being told ahead of time what's coming and have the option to uncheck and not download it at all. In other words, this complaint is much ado about nothing.

Microsoft MADE THE OS that you are installing. I see no problem with them including their own browser. And if you uninstall IE from Windows, it doesn't try to trick you into reinstalling IE every time you update your video drivers.

There is nothing that makes it such that you need IE to have Windows. They could just as easily have allowed computer makers to bundle Firefox.

And I'm pretty sure that you can tell Apple Software Update that you don't want to be prompted about a certain update again. I know I can do it on my Mac.

[Ranger12 53]

I have VLC media player, which plays ever video and audio codec there is, so I do not need Quicktime to play mp4 or any other Apple extensions. Yet, whenever I have to update iTunes on my PC, which seems to happen at least once a month, it does not give me the option to not download Quicktime. I have given up on uninstalling Quicktime because Apple is just going to force me to download it again when I update iTunes. The update window that pops up always reads something like "iTunes (version no.) + Quicktime".

I stay out of those Mac vs. Windows arguments because I have used both and there are pros and cons to each that basically even out. I do agree that Mac has an edge over PC when it comes to viruses and spyware written mostly for Windows based systems. You could put either brand in front of me and I will have no complaints about either.

However, it does seem like I am having to update iTunes just about every time I open it. I also hate how iTunes seems to take so long to load up and even cause the icons on my desktop to disappear for a few seconds, making it seem like Windows explorer is resetting just because I am opening iTunes. I have 2 GB RAM and a 2.3 GHz processor, so hardware is not an issue, especially since all my other programs load up normal. It is really not that big of a deal for me because I only use iTunes every couple of weeks because I have my whole 25 GB music library on my 80 GB iPod already, so I am not adding or deleting music from the iPod that much. About the only time I use iTunes is when I have converted a video to play on my iPod.