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Microsoft Update Quietly Installs Firefox Extension
hemantm writes "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."
at the same time it was Firefox that quietly allowed it to happen. "I admit that maybe I missed the point", he said as he rushed home to check his Windows machine.
I noticed this on a work machine and read about it last week. Instead of trying to manually remove the extension (the Uninstall button is disabled for this one and only extension) I simply disabled it. Starting that same day, the machine (2.3 Ghz dual core Vista with 4 GB RAM) has begun locking up hard when using Firefox. This doesn't happen with IE or any other software. It locked up 5 times on me with Firefox within 1 hour, and has not locked up at all since then, as I have not used Firefox. It is abundantly clear the problem is related to Firefox, and the only thing I did with Firefox was disable the extension and restart.
Has anyone else experienced anything like this after disabling the .NET extension? I'm curious how deeply this extension hooks into the OS and if it is capable of freezing up the entire OS. Firefox, on its own, should not be capable of locking up the entire machine.
Better known as 318230.
What is annoying is that it's installed without warnings or questions asked. The good part may be that it provides (or could provide) some functionality and M$ is finally acknowledging the percentage of Firefox users out there.
I've seen the way they "acknowledge" competitors before. I like Firefox; that's why I'd prefer they keep ignoring it.
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
I'm just thinking that if this update is making Registry changes, then the plug-in is Windows-only, and it means that Firefox users on Windows will now have a different browsing experience than Firefox users of other platforms.
So, the plug-in accomplishes two things for Microsoft: 1) it promotes the .NET platform to a wider audience, and 2) it promotes Windows as being the superior OS to run Firefox in.
It's a win-win scenario for Microsoft. Firefox can continue to gain marketshare, but Microsoft will have their tentacles in it, making sure that the adoption of Firefox does not lead to a platform-agnostic world. And it rewards the .NET developers for investing in Microsoft-only technologies.