Naraine: Apple Software Update still badware
Posted by Maxim Weinstein
ZDNet blogger Ryan Naraine called us to task today for not calling Apple Software Update badware. Last month, we stopped short of labeling the application badware after Apple made changes to improve the disclosure of applications that were installed under the guise of updates:
Apple clearly responded to the concerns of the community in making these changes, and consumers will benefit. The previous version of Apple Software Update was confusing to users and had the potential to lead users to stop trusting in the update process, a process that is critical to security efforts. With this change, and hopefully additional changes as the community provides additional feedback to this latest iteration, users can feel more comfortable with what they’re agreeing to when installing updates and new software via Apple’s tool.
Naraine feels that the product’s behavior is still “deceptive and irresponsible”. He writes:
That’s 95 MBs, pre-checked by default, bundled into a security patch and ready to hose my machine.
This is clearly badware behavior and it’s shocking to me that Apple gets away with it. I understand the economics of Apple being aggressive to establish a presence on the Windows ecosystem but this is really unacceptable.
In some cases, including the behavior of Apple Software Update before the changes, an application is clearly and unambiguously badware. In others, including the present state of Apple Software Update, there’s some room for discussion. For example, we have not historically considered an option being selected by default to be a badware behavior, particularly if the disclosure about the meaning of the checkbox was clear to the user. I believe Naraine is making the argument that the meaning is not clear in the context of the Update application.
What do you think? Would you consider Apple Software Update badware? What would you change to ensure it is giving users an informed choice about which software is installed on their computers? Let us know in our discussion group.