Weblog of a “Switcher”

I guess with all the blogosphere attention that Apple got over the Windows version of it's Apple Software Update program having Safari 3.1 in the list as an "Update", they felt that they had to make a change. I commented about this back when it happened here and here

I have been keeping an eye on Apple's software update program ever since this whole mess started up. I wanted to make sure that when the Safari 3.1.1 update hit, that it would still stay hidden based on my choice to use the menu option: "Ignore selected Updates".

Today I saw that along with Safari 3.1.1 and iTunes + QuickTime, there was an entry in the "Updates" list noting that the Apple Software Update program was in need of an update. (It's not showing up now since I updated it before I took the screenshot.

So it looks like Apple made a change to the update program to create two lists. One list contains all the "Updates" and the other list is titled: "New Software". This should help alleviate some confusion over wether an item is an "update" or an "install".

One problem that is still going to be complained about, mark my words, is that the entries in the "New Software" list are checked by default. This was one of the complaints about Safari being in the list. Some people didn't have a problem with Safari being in the list, they just objected to it being checked on by default.

I pretty much agree with the fact that "New Software" should be unchecked by default. This way, a user won't accidently install "New Software" without realizing it when all they really wanted to do was update QuickTime or iTunes.

It's going to be interesting to see what the blogosphere says about this attempt to appease the masses. Somehow I don't think it's really going to appease them at all. I guess time will tell.

Update: Did any Windows users notice as they updated their QuickTime version (if they did), that Microsoft updated their computer, yet again, without telling you what was updated or even giving you the option to not do the update?

This happened to me on my older Windows box (the one I used to take the screenshot with) after I updated QuickTime. When my machine was finished rebooting, it told me that Microsoft had updated my system with a critical update. No notice before the update, no prompt before updating that there is an update ready.

So where are all the people out there crying "dirty pool" for this act? At least these folks that are calling "foul" on Apple are Apple users. I just don't understand why there are not more people out there complaining about Microsoft basically taking over their machines with their updates. I will be the one deciding on wether an update is necessary for my machine or not. With Microsoft's track record of updates causing problems with their OS I don't want updates being installed on my Windows computers without my knowing what is being updated.

written by Dave M. \\ tags: Apple, apple software update, Software, update

There has been a lot of talk on the Apple blogs about a hacking contest where Charlie Miller won $10,000 plus a MacBook Air because he was the first one to hack into the machine and gain root access. How did he do this? He surfed to a test website he setup for the exercise with Safari. He managed this feet in just 2 minutes after CanSecWest security conference opened on the second day. No one was able to hack into any of the laptops setup for this purpose on the first day.

The way this contest was setup, if you can hack into one of the systems to gain root access you get prize money plus the system you hacked into. Hence the name of the contest: PWN2OWN. The first day was OS only attempts. The second day, the OS and software that is released with the OS are fair game, and on the final day, 3rd party software is added to the list.

Apparently, Microsoft Windows Vista was hacked on the 3rd day. No one managed to break into the 3rd system up for grabs, a Sony Vaio running the Linux distro Ubuntu.

I bring this up because one of my favorite bloggers to read brings up some valid points about security and Apple lax attitude for it. It has actually been a point of contention with myself an a lot of MacZelots. I constantly hear how secure OS X is due to it's Unix Kernel BeOS. Sure, that Kernel is probably very secure. However, there is a lot of software running on top of it that may no be so secure and the CanSecWest PWN2OWN contest shined a very bright light on that fact.

Safari is not clean software. This has been proven time and time again via Safari running on Windows machines and even the iPhone. It's hard to say how many problems are in other software that Apple produces, but Safari is a popular piece of software to attack these days. Especially since Apple all but forced it on Windows users recently.

This brings me back to my comment about a point of contention with MacZealots. See, I state that the reason Apple's OS X hasn't seen any major successful security exploits so far, is due to it's lack of market share. The old "security thru obscurity" argument. I have been ridiculed over and over again by my stating this.

What I mean by this is pretty simple. Since Apple owns a very small percent of the home computer market, virus writers don't see the OS X and the Macintosh as a viable platform for their attacks. Back in the 80's and 90's, virus writing was more of a personal pride thing. Hackers wanted to be able to claim that they were the ones to take down thousands of computers using their "handles" or monickers. Apple and Microsoft were targets back then.

Currently, virus writers are finding huge profit in the work they do. They write elaborate systems to allow spammers to get out their messages without drawing attention to themselves by using millions of "zombie" systems to do their dirty work for them. They are willing to pay big money to do this. In fact, there are viruses out there that actually have anti-virus software in their code to eradicate competing viruses so that only their virus is on the unsuspecting computer users system. They don't take computers down like before, but try their best to not be noticed at all.

Trust me when I say this is a big business. Spammers make millions of dollars spamming us, they are very willing to share some of that wealth to good virus writers to make sure that they have their way of sending out spam messages.

So what happens when Macintosh and OS X becomes more popular? Say when they see 30% market share or better? The Mac and OS X will wind up being a target just as much as Windows. Will that ever happen? I don't know for sure, but Apple is doing everything in their power to make Macintosh and Apple a very popular name. It also doesn't hurt that Microsoft has put out a dude of an OS called Windows Vista. Windows users are re-evaluating their decisions and seeing their friends running Tiger and Leopard and seeing that they don't have any problems with speed and usability.

The last couple of months, Apple has seen great sales numbers. Better than they have ever seen in their Notebook and Desktop computer lines.

If Apple keeps up this trend, they are really going to have to step up their security efforts in their software to make sure that they are secure. One thin Apple does have going for it is that when an exploit is discovered, it's fairly quickly corrected. Apple doesn't wait for "monthly updates" like Microsoft does. When they have a security update that needs to go out, they send it out.

So I am really hoping that Apple starts looking more closely at security and stops sitting on it's hands thinking that they are the best when clearly they have work to do.

written by Dave M. \\ tags: Apple, Bloggers, Charlie Miller, Clean Software, Fair Game, Gain Root, Grabs, iPhone, Lax Attitude, Microsoft Windows Vista, Os X, Party Software, Point Of Contention, Prize Money, Reason Apple, root access, Safari, Security Conference, Security Exploits, Security Tag, Sony Vaio, Test Website, Unix Kernel, Windows Machines, Windows Users, Wit

I came off with the previous post as sounding like I thought that Apple including Safari in the "update" was a good thing. I do feel that they made a mistake in defaulting the item as checked and would be downloaded if the user just clicks the update button.

Yes, it's pretty sneaky marketing. Do you folks really think Apple is so pure and nice that they would never do such a thing? They are a business and to listen to some folks, a monopoly. At least as far as MP3 players goes, and this is the real problem here. People are saying that Apple is using it's "monopoly" in MP3 players and music as a means of gaining a market share in the browser world. Will they? Guess what. Probably not at all.

As some of my commenters have stated, people don't really have a clue that there are other browsers out there other than Internet Explorer. They wouldn't even notice that there was another browser to choose from when using their computer after running the update. For crying out loud, they don't even know that they have spyware and trojans running on their computer in the first place!

I'm just surprised that it's causing all this attention in the blogosphere. Everyone I read/hear is going on like this is the end of the world as we know it. The biggest complaint is: Now that Apple has done this, people are not going to want to run the Apple Software Update program and because of this, they are not going to run update software at all. So this will cause the internet to become less secure.

Oh please, give me a break! People have already been/being trained to make the internet less secure by Microsoft with Vista and User Access Control (UAC) not to mention Windows Update. People are turning off UAC all over the place because it's about the most annoying thing ever. Plus, just like crying "Wolf" over and over again, sooner or later, you are just going to assume that the next UAC prompt that shoes up is just another "cry wolf" prompt and tell it to go ahead when it really is a bad thing.

Windows Update is really bad to allow to run at all, much less tell it to let you know that there is an update to download. Windows Update has actually installed updates even when you tell it to not actually do anything other than warn you that updates are out. This hasn't happened very often, but it has happened a couple of times and Microsoft has been called out for them.

So I have to say, that maybe these computer journalists need to be making sure that Microsoft takes care of their issues before going after Apple.

Actually, this looks a lot like Greenpeace going after Apple for not being "Green" when compared to Dell and HP, Apple's messing up the environment is way less. After all, older Macintosh computers tend to get sold to new owners where older Windows boxes tend to just get thrown out. I really didn't understand that, but now Apple is even "greener" and the rest of the computer world is still as messy as before. Ah well.

Now, all that said, if you are a Windows user reading this far down the post, why not actually try Safari and see if you don't think that Safari is not faster than any browser that you are currently using minus Firefox 3 Beta. Firefox 3 being beta is still pretty unstable or I would have to say that they are pretty close to the same speed. Once Mozilla gets Firefox 3 out of beta, they are going to be a really good competitor.

written by Dave M. \\ tags: Annoying Thing, Apple 2, Apple Software, Browser World, Clue, Commenters, Cry Wolf, Crying Wolf, Hub Bub, Internet Explorer, Market Share, Mistake, Monopoly, Mp3 Players, Safari, Shoes, Software Update, User Access Control, Windows Update, Wolf

I've been seeing a lot of griping about Apple's Software Update for Windows and it having Safari in it's lists of updates even when Safari for Windows isn't installed on that computer. (Yep Neil, I saw your Twitter response)

Here is my take on this for what it is worth...

The "Apple Software Update" program is a program that is installed when installing either of the three programs on the list in the above screen shot. iTunes, QuickTime, and/or Safari. It's a convenience program to allow you to keep those programs up-to-date without having to go to Apple's website every so often to make sure you have the latest. It's written fairly similarly to Apple's Macintosh "Software Update" program.

There has been a lot of griping about how Apple is trying to "pull a fast one" and sneak a copy of Safari onto Windows based computers by making it look like the user needs to update the program when in fact it's not even installed on the system. (Ok, so most of the complaining has been by either the Mozilla group, or Twitter posts...)

• SlashDot:
  Mozilla CEO Objects To Safari Auto Install
• Twitter:
  Molly Wood
• Twitter:
  Response to Molly's tweet
• Daring Fireball:
  Apple Offering Safari 3.1 to Windows iTunes Users
• Waffle:
  Where By “Interesting”, I Mean “Annoying”
• Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows:
  Mozilla responds to Apple's dubious use of Software Update to push Safari
• Daring Fireball:
  Paul Thurrott on the Safari for Windows Software Update Thing
• Waffle:
  The Sliding Scale of Right
• Alivad.com:
  Apple’s dirty Safari installer …
• Brandon Live!:
  Apple is the new Borg
• rare pattern:
  Apple's in the wrong, but Safari really is the better browser
• Cow's Blog:
  Apple Safari Backdoor Install 'Wrong'
• on and on and on...

The complaints seem to be focusing on the fact that if Microsoft did this, they would get their butt's in all kinds of hot water, yet Apple is getting a free ticket to do what they want.

Now, it's very possible that this is Apple's way of getting Safari onto Windows based systems with little effort. After all, if a Windows user has an iPod or iPhone, they will probably be running iTunes and will be running this software update program to make sure that iTunes is up-to-date. So basically, Apple is taking advantage of this fact to try to get Safari installed on as many Windows based systems as it can.

Is this evil? Eh, I can't really say. Personally, I use Safari now more and more since Firefox seems to be getting slower and buggier by the day. I have tried other Windows based browsers like Opera and Netscape, but none are really as speedy as Safari is. So giving Windows users another choice to me seems like a nice thing. Just my opinion here.

Now, getting back to the topic at hand. I can't speak for other platforms when it comes to their update software. I can speak to Microsoft and Windows Update. I still have a couple of Windows boxes laying around here running XP. There have been several times when Microsoft has decided to "update" my computer without my permission. I don't run Windows Update in such a way that it is supposed to update my computer no matter what. I like to make sure the updates I am installing are ones I really need. Yet, I know of at least 2 times when my Windows box has been rebooted by a software update that happened without my telling it to update.

With Apple's Software Update mechanism, I am given a list of programs that need to be updated, each with a checkbox in front so that I can tell the program that I don't want to update a specific piece of software at that time. Further more, I can tell the program that I don't ever want to see a specific update again, by using the Tools menu and selecting "Ignore Selected Updates".

Now, I don't see Safari in the list at all:

So, I really don't understand why all the complaining. It's easy enough to ignore software that you don't want to install. It's not hiding the fact that it's going to install/update the software if you click on the "Install n items" button at the bottom. Plus, installing Safari doesn't change your default browser, home page setting, browser search engine, etc... All perfectly benign.

I have seen install programs on Windows that sneak all kinds of junk on to your computer and don't give you even the slightest option to not install it or even tell you that it is going to install it except in that nasty piece of text called the EULA.

So, calm down folks, it's really not that bad and if you really don't want it, ignore it or even better, remove Apple Software Update from even running on your Windows system and you will never have to worry about it again.

Update: (8:18pm) I just cleaned up the links to other sites talking about this topic and moved them off to a list.

written by Dave M. \\ tags: Apple Macintosh, Apple Safari, Apple Software, Based Computers, Cow, Daring Fireball, Free Ticket, Hot Water, Hub Bub, Macintosh Software, Molly Wood, Paul Thurrott, Quicktime, Rare Pattern, Safari For Windows, Software Update, Supersite For Windows, Twitter, Waffle, Windows Software

OK, I know this isn't really Mac related. But I felt like I had to say something.

This is the second time the Redsox have won the World Series in 3 years. Now, any other team (except the Yankee's) I would say that this is quite an accomplishment.

However, both times, they played teams that either just didn't have their hearts in the game (St. Louis Cardinals) or this time where the National League was destined to loose no matter who they played. By the way, I'm a Cardinals fan, and I say what I said about them because they played like crap back in 2004 when attempting to win the Series against the Redsox. At least they were able to win in 2006 against Detroit and win well.

This season, the National League were just terrible. Oh sure, the Rockies won 22 out of 23 games before the Series. They looked like they couldn't loose. Problem was, they were playing teams that were worse than they were. Or at least close to that. When they faced the Boston, they were facing a team way out of their league. They actually did pretty well in one game against them, but the rest were pretty worthless.

Don't get me wrong completely here. They did have to get past some pretty tough compatition to get to the Series. Cleveland put up quite a fight up until the last few games when they seemed to loose interest too. Their games against Boston were nothing but magical. Then they got to 3-1 and seemed to fall apart. No idea why, except that they were mostly wet behind the ears. Most of the team had never seen a World Series or post season for that matter. They played very well for that fact. I suspect next time, if they keep their key players, they are going to be quite a team.

So, congratulations Boston. You now have two easy wins of the World Series. Lets hope the next time you have a chance to win, you actually have to play a team that has a chance too.

written by Dave M. \\ tags: 3 Years, Accomplishment, Boston, Compatition, Crap, Game, Games, Hearts, Redsox, Rockies, Second Time, St Louis Cardinals, Wet Behind The Ears, World Series, Yankee

6 months later, a report card on Vista - Yahoo! News
"I can't live in Vista if the software that I use in my life for productivity does not work," said Pirillo, in the third minute of a 52-minute video he posted on YouTube.

It's the same everywhere. "My sound card doesn't work with Vista" or "I have to get a whole new computer just to run it" or "150 problems, no solutions..."

After 6 months in the hands of consumers, Microsoft Vista is still not doing what Windows XP has been doing for 5 years now. Work and work well.

When I looked at Microsoft Windows Vista last year when it was in Beta 2, then RC1 and RC2, I could see that there were problems that they were not going to get fixed by January, and even now, a year later, it's still full of problems.

Businesses are slow to adopt it for obvious reasons.

When I switched to OS X and Macintosh, I found out that Leopard was to be released in early spring of 2007. I deep down hoped that Apple would somehow get Leopard out before Vista to show them up. Now, with Leopard looming on the "November" horizon (Yes, I know it says October, but really, who expects it to come out any earlier than October 31st?), I still feel that Leopard is beating Vista out the door since I would put good money on the fact that when Leopard comes out, it will be much more stable than Vista.

Time will tell...

written by Dave M. \\ tags: Apple, Beta, Consumers, Early Spring, Horizon, Macintosh, Microsoft, Microsoft Vista, Microsoft Windows Vista, Money, New Computer, October 31st, Os X, Productivity, Sound Card, Vista Software, Vista Yahoo, Windows Xp, Wow, Yahoo News

I don't normally crosspost anything, but this article needs as much exposure as I can give it.

I'm deviating from my normal posts here to “bitch” about Bloglines.

It’s been a really long time since I started using Bloglines. I can’t even remember. I know it was less than 6 months after they opened their doors. I was in love. A feed reader that basically followed you where ever you went.

I used it at home and work. I also used it when on the road when we went on vacations. I could always stay up-to-date with what was going on and not have to worry about reading a story more than once! This held true for quite some time.

In the last year, something has started happening with Bloglines. It wasn’t long after they were bought by AskJeeves (now Ask.com) that things started to go down hill. Now this could be a coincidence, or it could be due to the purchase.

A feature I used ever since it was released to the public: Keep New, started acting up. Keep New is a checkbox in the article that allowed the Bloglines user to keep the article new no matter what. Every time you opened the feed, the article would be there along with other really new articles.

In the last year, the feature started acting strange. I would see I had some Keep New articles due to a second number in parenthesis after the number of new articles which is also in parenthesis. I would open the feed to see them, and not find them. Even after reading all the new articles, I would try opening the feed and get nothing. Sometimes I could tell Bloglines to show me posts from a month ago, and the Keep New articles would be buried in with the other articles it would bring up.

So I stopped using Keep New.

I sent several bug reports to Bloglines in hopes that this problem would get fixed. I did get responses from the Bloglines crew, but alas, the problem was never fixed. Or at least so I thought.

Then I noticed I had a Keep New that I had set and I was still able to get to it even after a few days. I first thought that Bloglines had finally fixed the bug. But other feeds still didn’t show. I noticed a difference in the way the feeds properties were set. The one that was working had “Updated Items” in the feed properties set to “Display as New”. The one that wasn’t working was set to “Ignore”. I changed a few that were set to Ignore to Display as New and found I was able to keep my Keep New articles findable again.

I thought I had the problem licked until I realized what that setting really did. Every article that was updated by the writer, even if a single character was changed, would appear again in the feed as new. At first I didn’t mind too much, but over time it got so bad that I though I was using a desktop client for a feed reader. Reading posts I had read days if not weeks ago.

So I turned the feature off and decided to live without Keep New again. Except I found that the Keep New posts were still staying visible even after switching back to Ignore for Updated Items. That was a surprise and a pleasant one at that.

Now we come to present time, and once again, the Keep New posts are fading into the sunset. I really don’t understand this. Am I the only person using Bloglines that uses this feature? I find that hard to believe.

I’m tired of waiting for this feature to be fixed, if they even acknowledge that there is a problem with it at all. So I’ve decided to give up on Bloglines finally.

I’m currently in the process of finding a new reader. Alas it will wind up being a desktop client since the “other” web based readers all suck big time! I have looked at all of them. Including FeedLounge, a non-free web based feed reader.

I’m looking at NewsNetWire for the Mac and NewsGator for Windows only because there is a chance that they can keep each other up-to-date as to which posts I have read and which I haven’t.

But that isn’t the reason for this “Freedbacking” post. It’s to let Bloglines know how I feel about this whole Keep New thing and how it has chased a long time user away from your tool.

written by Dave M. \\ tags: Bitch, Bug Reports, Checkbox, Coincidence, Doors, Feed Reader, Few Days, Long Time, Love, New Articles, Parenthesis, Quite Some Time, Tho, Vacations