Mozilla CEO says Apple undermines users

On Friday, March 21st 2008 at 09:03 PM

By Andrei Pociu (View Profile)

With the recent versions of iTunes and QuickTime for Windows, the Apple Software Update utility is automatically installed and its purpose would seem pretty obvious: to deliver updates to the currently installed Apple software. However, with the release of the Safari 3.1 browser, Apple is using its Software Update tool to automatically install the latest version of its browser on Windows machines, even if the user never had Safari installed before. The "Install" box is checked by default and the user is presented with a "Install n items" dialog, which is typically clicked by the user, in the understanding that these are critical updates to the Apple software installed on his machine, not new software pushed by this manufacturer.

John Lilly, the CEO at Mozilla Corporation was very critical of Apple's approach to pushing software to trusty users, believing that it "undermines the trust relationship great companies have with their customers, and that's bad — not just for Apple, but for the security of the whole Web." He discusses more about his concern with Apple not following a code of ethics at his blog.

Apple was criticized before for the behaviour of its software, especially the one targeted for the Windows platform. The Quicktime software is well know for its refusal to stop running at Windows startup and for constantly updating; it even made the Top 10 Most Annoying Tech Products list compiled by PC World Magazine.