Download.com Now Wraps Downloads In Bloatware

MrSeb writes "At Download.com, page designs have been repeatedly tweaked over the years to push its updater software (now called TechTracker), TrialPay offers, and the site's mailing list. Bothersome, perhaps, but certainly not inexcusable. They've got to make money off the site somehow, after all, and banner ads don't always do the job. Now, things have taken a turn for the worse: Cnet has begun wrapping downloads in its own proprietary installer. Not only will this cause the reputation of free, legitimate software to be tarred by Cnet's bloatware toolbars, homepage changes, and new default search engines — but Cnet is even claiming that their installer wrapping is 'for the users.'"

Comments

Re:Wow, when you can't trust CNET

[larry bagina]

Use sourceforge. You can just download the code, review it, and compile it yourself with proper optimization and architecture flags.

Re:Wow, when you can't trust CNET

[russotto]

Hell, even reputable companies are doing this. I see it all the time. We wind up cleaning off "Ask Toolbar" and other sorts of shitty crapware all the time, and it wandered in as a tagalong with Adobe Reader and Java updates!

OK, so that's Adobe and Oracle... what were the reputable companies doing this?

Re:A Software Author's Perspective

[advocate_one]

you were lucky... I had to fake my death to escape from Reader's Digest...