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Microsoft Accused of “Sabotaging Firefox”

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Summary: Microsoft changes Mozilla's software without permission from the users and the aim is self promotion

THE FIRST self-explanatory report is this one:

Microsoft Sabotaging Firefox With Sneaky .NET Updates?



Sabotage may be a strong choice of word, but it immediately came to mind with the news of Microsoft’s latest .NET update.

The Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1, unleashed in February, forces an undisclosed Firefox extension on Windows users, called “Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant 1.0″, and it does so without asking the users permission.


It is not an unusual development and this was also entered into Slashdot and into Stefano Forenza's Web site.

The Washington Post used much gentler words (Melinda Gates is in charge, so it's wise to be cautious) and so did this Web site.

A routine security update for a Microsoft Windows component installed on tens of millions of computers has quietly installed an extra add-on for an untold number of users surfing the Web with Mozilla's Firefox Web browser.


 

Here at Techgeist, we do not like it when software does stuff to other software without asking. The problems are made that much worse when it's the operating system doing the dirty work. So we are all pretty angry at Microsoft right now. As part of a service pack for the .Net Framework, which they rolled out as a critical update via Windows Update, Microsoft also installed the ".Net Framework Assistant" add-on onto users' Firefox installations.


The story in short: Microsoft uses its Windows Update franchise (monopoly) for unwanted/uninvited intrusion that's justified by a EULA people cannot refuse. Moreover, Microsoft shoves its software down people's throats to advance its business by interfering with rival software.

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