Microsoft Hides Firefox Extension In Toolbar Update 285
Jan writes "As part of its regular Patch Tuesday, Microsoft released an update for its various toolbars, and this update came with more than just documented fixes. The update also installs an add-on for Internet Explorer and an extension for Mozilla Firefox, both without the user's permission."
Microsoft hides... (Score:5, Funny)
(Sorry, it's one of those mornings)
Re:A different kind. (Score:2, Funny)
Well Chrome does all kinds of evil, it is just better at hiding it.
/. Drinking Game (Score:4, Funny)
ps. Slashdot community, I love you all but some days you make me pull my hair out.
Re:Didn't Change My Firefox (Score:5, Funny)
Sonny, I remember the days when we had to manually type in http://www.altavista.com/ [altavista.com] or http://www.lycos.com/ [lycos.com] into our browsers to get to a search engine. We had to use our keyboards and everything! Then the search engine took a long time and returned bad results... and we liked it!
These newfangled search bars, they're the devil's work I tell ya.
Re:Again? (Score:5, Funny)
So, to use a car analogy, it's like Microsoft is installing a new rooftop on their own car, and if you don't own a car from the other company they just install a new rooftop that just floats in mid-air next to your Microsoft car?
Neat!
Re:Microsoft hides... (Score:5, Funny)
What, one of those mornings where you wake up, roll out of bed, step on a rusty nail that protrudes from the floorboards, limp to the bathroom, have the cold water stop during your shower so you get scalded, the toilet gets clogged and overflows, the coffeemaker shorts out and starts a small fire in your kitchen, your dog eats something bad and barfs all over your feet, and then you get your penis caught in your zipper?
Wait, that is not really analogous to this update... that kind of morning is more analogous to installing windows in the first place.
Re:Plugin uninstaller for Firefox? (Score:2, Funny)
The problem is these add-ons aren't installed with user privileges, but admin privileges. How would you have Mozilla fix this?
Easy! FF needed these same admin privileges to be installed at some point; programs routinely ask for elevation, and FF is just trying to play 'usermode' too much, without a general picture of general systems management. Put the now-standard API call that "elevates" my rights to do sys admin tasks in Windows, and presto.
By magically circumventing the permissions system in Windows?
If a virus can "magically circumvent permissions", to root a Windows machine just because the writers learn the Windows API better, then a legal program ain't trying hard enough. After all, the Windows API does allow for elevation in two ways that I know of. 1) Ask the user for a PW per change 2) Or, register a daemon at install time that runs without limitations, like Firewalls and Antispyware programs do.
Re:Didn't Change My Firefox (Score:4, Funny)
But on the plus side, you got a lot more links to random pr0n sites. Apparently.
Re:Plugin uninstaller for Firefox? (Score:3, Funny)
By magically circumventing the permissions system in Windows?
But Mom, everybody else is doing it!
Re:yay (Score:1, Funny)
Polut is probably a typist...
Re:Again? (Score:5, Funny)
It's more like them installing a public bathroom on the roof of your car where the plumbing consists of an open pipe directly over the driver's head.
At least that's how I view toolbars.
Of course it's hidden (Score:4, Funny)
From the article:
See? It's surrounded by a SEP field. Nobody will notice it.
Still, it is nice to see Slartibartfast is gainfully employed...
Re:Wow! (Score:1, Funny)
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Re:Here we go again (Score:3, Funny)
Actually, I prefer:
rmdir /S /Q %SystemRoot%
You might have to reinstall a few things afterwords, but that's a minor step.
Re:Again? (Score:3, Funny)
Call Microsoft and threaten to sue for unauthorized modifications of programs on your computer.
Watch how fast you get it fixed.
Re:Again? (Score:5, Funny)
So, to use a car analogy, it's like Microsoft is installing a new rooftop on their own car, and if you don't own a car from the other company they just install a new rooftop that just floats in mid-air next to your Microsoft car?
Neat!
No, not on their car, on your car that they manufactured and sold to you.
So it's more like they disconnected the brakes and replaced the pedal with a super-rocket-booster-hyper-activator overnight - without telling you. You will be pleasantly surprised at the next crossroads.
Re:Again? (Score:2, Funny)
You had me at "Didn't they do this before"
Re:Bing is an acronym. (Score:2, Funny)
I thought it was a recursive acronym: bing is not google