Mozilla CEO John Lilly Slams Apple Over Safari Sneak
Apple has a big portal into Windows users through their popular iTunes service. Anybody with an iPod or an iPhone uses iTunes, and for many it’s the only piece of Apple software they have on their PC’s. From experience, I can say that they update iTunes all the time, and that’s probably a good thing.
Recently, however, Windows users who are advised to update iTunes are also being offered Safari for Windows. It is an opt-out download where the user needs to check the box next to Safari in order to receive only the iTunes update.
Safari may be improving and Apple wants more Windows users going with their software (Safari is supposedly faster, but I find Firefox to be the more stable of the Internet Explorer alternatives), but many believe they are betraying their long standing trust and goodwill that has built up over the course of years.
One of these voices is Mozilla’s CEO John Lilly, who wrote a post on his blog about Apple’s decision. As Lilly says, “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.”
Safari has a new version out, and Mozilla has its new version waiting in the wings. So its understandable that Apple wants to do what it can to get their software out there, and it’s understandable that Lilly doesn’t want Apple sneaking Safari onto your PC via iTunes updater. But it’s hard to argue with Lilly here on the facts: Apple really is trying to smuggle Safari onto your PC, and while it’s not exactly like they’re putting something destructive on your hard drive, these practices do serve to make the user a little less trusting of software updates that are essential to the wellbeing of your system.
Technorati Tags: itunes, safari, firefox, mozilla, john lilly
