Parallels Update Installs Unrelated Daemon Without Permission

Calibax writes "Parallels recently released version 9 of Parallels Desktop, their popular hypervisor application for Mac. They also released a new product named Parallels Access that offers access to Windows applications from an iPad for $80 per year. Access has received less than stellar reviews. When a user upgrades Parallels Desktop, he is asked if he wants a free six-month subscription to Parallels Access. Even if he says no, the product is installed on his system and the application is started each time the system is rebooted. It is installed with ancillary files scattered around several directories in the system and Parallels has not supplied an uninstaller or listed the steps to fully uninstall the application, despite a number of requests. In other words, Parallels has decided it's a good idea to silently install a difficult to remove daemon application on the system, even if the user has explicitly stated they do not want it. They have not provided an uninstaller or a list of files installed or instructions on how to remove the application files. These are scattered to at least four Mac OS X OS system level directories."

Comments

Wow!

[tysonedwards]

Holy Department of Redundancy Department, Batman!

Re:Wow!

[Freshly Exhumed]

Deja vu all over again!

Re:Wow!

[Anonymous Coward]

Holy Department of Redundancy Department, Batman!

Re:Wow!

[SpaceLifeForm]

Smells like NSA on steroids.

Re:Wow!

[Anonymous Coward]

Holy Department of Redundancy Department, Batman!

Holy Department of Redundancy Department, Batman!

Re:Wow!

[Falkentyne]

Holy Department of Redundancy Department, Batman!

Holy Department of Redundancy Department, Batman!

Holy Shit, Superman!

Re:Wow!

[Anonymous Coward]

Holy Department of Redundancy Department, Batman!

Holy Department of Redundancy Department, Batman!

Holy Shit, Superman!

Holy Shit, Superman!

Re: Wow!

[Anonymous Coward]

fuck all of you.

Good to know

[cob666]

I've been using Parallels Desktop for several versions now but I won't be 'upgrading' to version 9 until this is resolved. Up to now, Parallels has been a great product.

Re:Good to know

[interval1066]

I've been using Parallels Desktop for several versions now but I won't be 'upgrading' to version 9 until this is resolved. Up to now, Parallels has been a great product.

McAfee, is that you?

Re:Good to know

[Khyber]

1.Upgrade to 9.

2.Tell the fucking installer to not install that extraneous software on your system.

3.Sue the shit out of Parallels for unauthorized access/violation of the CFAA.

4.????

5.PROFIT!!!!

Re:Good to know

[Anonymous Coward]

Not going to be resolved. The NSA is implementing back doors on most systems.

NSA cracks Web encryption using 'back doors,' files show
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/09/05/nsa-snowden-encryption-cracked/2772721/

Re:Good to know

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, I highly doubt that. Because without your Mac's ability to run Windows applications seamlessly with Parallels, it's nothing more than an overpriced toy. You'll upgrade to whatever they make you upgrade to, plain and simple. Don't try and pretend like you're going to take the moral high ground in the hopes that it'll change anything, it won't. Mac OS X development is a stagnant pool to say the least, and things like this aren't going to help matters.

Re:Good to know

[nobaloney]

without your Mac's ability to run Windows applications seamlessly with Parallels, it's nothing more than an overpriced toy.

You mean like Windows 8?

Re:Good to know

[gmanterry]

I've been using Parallels Desktop for several versions now but I won't be 'upgrading' to version 9 until this is resolved. Up to now, Parallels has been a great product.

McAfee, is that you?

Sounds like Norton. They used to (still?) installed dozens of aux programs that took over your desktop.

Lost a customer

[danaris]

I've been using Parallels over VMWare Fusion for a few years now (there has been some good bundle pricing on it, and there were some features it had that VMWare lacked at the time when I was deciding, though I don't recall what those were now).

Unless this turns out to be a tempest in a teacup or otherwise invented or overblown, I won't be doing that anymore, and VMWare will have gained back a customer.

Dan Aris

Re:Lost a customer

[Em Adespoton]

I've been using Parallels over VMWare Fusion for a few years now (there has been some good bundle pricing on it, and there were some features it had that VMWare lacked at the time when I was deciding, though I don't recall what those were now).

Unless this turns out to be a tempest in a teacup or otherwise invented or overblown, I won't be doing that anymore, and VMWare will have gained back a customer.

Dan Aris

Why not just use VirtualBox? Or are you not touching that due to Oracle having their fingers in it?

Re:Lost a customer

[MightyYar]

On Mac, it is nowhere near as slick.

Re:Lost a customer

[danaris]

I've been using Parallels over VMWare Fusion for a few years now (there has been some good bundle pricing on it, and there were some features it had that VMWare lacked at the time when I was deciding, though I don't recall what those were now).

Unless this turns out to be a tempest in a teacup or otherwise invented or overblown, I won't be doing that anymore, and VMWare will have gained back a customer.

Dan Aris

Why not just use VirtualBox? Or are you not touching that due to Oracle having their fingers in it?

I've used it, but as MightyYar says, it doesn't do as much as VMWare Fusion or Parallels on the Mac. It 3D support, for instance, still leaves a lot to be desired.

Dan Aris

Re:Lost a customer

[drinkypoo]

Why not just use VirtualBox? Or are you not touching that due to Oracle having their fingers in it?

I've used it, but as MightyYar says, it doesn't do as much as VMWare Fusion or Parallels on the Mac. It 3D support, for instance, still leaves a lot to be desired.

Yeah, like 3D, or support.

Re:Lost a customer

[Bill_the_Engineer]

Why not just use VirtualBox?

Because VirtualBox is slow and lacks features.

Re:Lost a customer

[Anonymous Coward]

Drinking a screwdriver, some just came out my nose. Thanks for the laugh, I think!

Re:Lost a customer

[Anonymous Coward]

yes, can we cut their fingers?
(to me oracle is even more evil than microsoft and sony combined)

Re:Lost a customer

[Anonymous Coward]

are you blowing this out of proportion? i think so.

is the tfs/tfa sensationalizing a non-issue? yeah, pretty much.

the question at install time is whether or not you want a free TRIAL of the additional-cost service that is at least somewhat related to what you're installing... NOT whether or not you want to install the additional software that is related to, and from the same company as, what you're already installing. ya it sucks that something you dont intend to use is installed... but that's just tough shit. that isn't what the installer asked about.

so.. go ahead, shit a storm. get an uninstaller for the software component... but dont shit on parallels, they didn't do anything 'wrong' -- your reading comprehension is what went wrong.

Re:Lost a customer

[Billly Gates]

Why not just use VirtualBox?

Because VirtualBox is slow and lacks features.

Citation? This was modded to +4 based on popularity as I have seen VB just as fast as VM workstation. Actually VB slows down the host less than the $250 workstation! I only use vm workstation because of nesting support so I can run HyperV type 1 bare metal virtualizers. But I am an extreme niche here. To run office VB is a better value.

Re:Lost a customer

[hot soldering iron]

Wow. For an Anonymous Coward, you sure sound like a paid shill.

Re:Lost a customer

[Anonymous Coward]

> To run office VB is a better value.

I use both VB (for browser testing) and VMWare (for running apps), and afaik Virtual Box doesn't have a seamless window mode or any of the other GUI integration features. At least for normal user activities, VM/Parallels seems vastly superior.

Re:Lost a customer

[Anonymous Coward]

[Citation Needed]

No, seriously! I'd like to see some hard statistics on this compared to VMWare Fusion, and Parallels. Do such statistics exist?

Re:Lost a customer

[Anonymous Coward]

This guy seems to know his stuff, he's an engineer after all. Like my brother in law, he's an engineer too, he always comes up with clever nonsense.

The only worth mentioning emulators out there are Virtualbox and KVM/qemu.

The others are just bloatware. Last time i checked VMware it left my windows7 with about 4 daemons running fulltime in the background, one for network, one for usb, one for wiping ass and the other for making sandwiches.

I can't even imagine paying for softwares either.

Re:Lost a customer

[Billly Gates]

Ok.

Arstechnica.com mentioned this a few years ago for a MacOSX centric review. Windows seamless mode is available in the Windows version and I just assumed it was in the mac version as well. I stand corrected then if it is not there.

I wonder if Virtualbox is more crippled in non MS operating systems then?

Performance wise at least on Windows 7 it has to go with Virtualbox on my 2.6 ghz system. Perhaps on a newer icore7 extreme this might not be true?

Re:Lost a customer

[interval1066]

Seems faster to me running on my 3.9 kernel 2.6 ghz linux system. my comprable windows box seems sluggish running vb to me. also read an article last year about a code audit some one did on vb and they reported that the code was "laughably bad".

Re:Lost a customer

[antdude]

Lacking what features? VMware Workstation and Fusion are slow too. :(

Re:Lost a customer

[TheRaven64]

I use VirtualBox, although most of my colleagues use VMWare, so I get to compare them fairly regularly. They're not that far apart (not enough for me to bother getting VMWare, anyway), but there are a few places where VirtualBox lacks:

• USB passthrough is flakey. Sometimes it works fine, sometimes it manages to put the host's USB stack into a state where it needs a reboot to fix (or possibly unloading and reloading the few dozen kexts that make up the Apple USB stack).
• The DHCP service is annoying and directly forwards the DNS address rather than providing a proxy, so when you move between networks DNS stops working.
• I don't run Windows in my VMs, but apparently if you do then VMWare has better support for integrating the apps with the host system.
• VMWare is a lot better at memory management. It allocates memory using the normal userspace heap and so VMs can be swapped out when they're idle and it does some deduplication of memory. In contrast, VirtualBox just wires the entire VM's memory, so you end up with 2GB less available memory for everything else if you have a 2GB VM.
• VirtualBox uses Qt, which is a way of writing applications that don't behave even vaguely like native ones. This is a minor nit, but a more significant one is that a bug in Qt means that a laptop with both integrated and discrete graphics will always stay using the discrete one if the VirtualBox control panel is running.
• A related bug in the crappy Qt interface means that it will interrupt shutdown if the control interface is running (even if no VMs are).

For me, VirtualBox is Good Enough, but there's definite room for improvement and so I can understand why other people would pay for VMWare. I did pay for Parallels back when 2.0 came out, to run on my shiny new first-generation Core 2 MacBook Pro. It caused host kernel panics on a regular basis, which turned out to be due to their misreading of the Intel IPI documentation. They wanted me to pay for Parallels 3 to get the bug fix, so I will never give that company any money ever again.

Re:Lost a customer

[drinkypoo]

For me, VirtualBox is Good Enough, but there's definite room for improvement and so I can understand why other people would pay for VMWare.

For most people, the free version of VMware Player (they now have a license for Player which will help people using it with mass deployments) will do everything they need to do, so I can't understand why people would use Virtualbox. VMWare is not perfect, I've had it bluescreen itself and so on, but it's worlds better than Virtualbox. Are you worried about government backdoors or something?

Re:Lost a customer

[Zeromous]

Sorry it's a fact. On the desktop and on clustered racks VMWare wins hands down in features and performance. While there is a roadmap to match KVM with ESX feature-for-feature it will not reach parity for a few years yet assuming VMWare stays fairly static.

I work daily with every large scalable deployments of every virtualization solution on x86 and PPC. Nothing touches VMWare on x86 in the present.

Re:Lost a customer

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh yeah... Forgot we were talking about Mac users. Slick clearly has priority over function or anything else.

Re:Lost a customer

[MightyYar]

OK, in that case it is more functional. Much better integration with the OS and IMHO the performance is better. That said, I use VirtualBox because I very rarely need Windows on my Mac and so "free" is good enough.

Re:Lost a customer

[h4rr4r]

Will player let you make machines? I thought it left that out. Will it do snapshots?

Re:Lost a customer

[Anonymous Coward]

> Dan Aris

Dan Aris? As in "THE" "Dan Aris" zOMG, Sir, it is an honor to meet you. Oh my GOD! If you were here, I would SO TOTALLY give you a hum job!

Wow! Thank you, Sir, you made my day!!!!!

Re:Lost a customer

[Anonymous Coward]

Did you get a bit on you? I thought the joke was boring, but I have a twisted sense of humor.

Re:Lost a customer

[Anonymous Coward]

VirtualBox has had perfectly working "seamless" on Linux for at least 5 years. I've been using it for Visual Studio when somebody demands .NET shit because they're used to people who are too dumb to write good C++.

Re:Lost a customer

[Gr8Apes]

Parallels is both slick and has significant functionality over anything else out there for a mac. That's why people use it in preference over most other packages by a pretty large margin, from what I can tell. In fact, all the VmWare Fusion installs I've ever met were to seamlessly function with windows and other counterparts, and most had Parallels installed also for their own uses.

To GP's point later on, I imagine Parallels is losing users precisely because windows is becoming less necessary by the day. Interestingly enough, only 1 of my VMs is windows at this point, and I hardly ever use it.

Re:Lost a customer

[drinkypoo]

Yes and no, in that order. It used to not let you make machines, but it has done for some time now. Still no snapshots, that's still a Workstation feature.

Re:Lost a customer

[h4rr4r]

Based on that VirtualBox seems better on OSX and KVM for those who know what they are doing on linux.

Re:Lost a customer

[drinkypoo]

Based on that VirtualBox seems better on OSX and KVM for those who know what they are doing on linux.

Snapsnots are nice, but what's really nice is having stuff work. VMWare wins there. If you need snapshots, and you either don't want to spend money or don't want to use a closed-source hypervisor, then it's understandable that you might choose to use something else.

If you're running Linux under Linux, then probably most of the options are adequate. If you want to run Windows in a VM, then only VMWare doesn't blow.

Re:Lost a customer

[h4rr4r]

In what way does stuff not work with virtualbox?
I run windows and linux in Virtualbox all the time on an OSX machine. Work provided.

Windows runs fine in KVM. If you are running linux under linux, containers are a better way.

Re:Lost a customer

[drinkypoo]

In what way does stuff not work with virtualbox?

3D Graphics. Every time I try them Virtualbox crashes. Last time I tried running virtualbox with 3d, fucking dxdiag caused the VM to asplode.

Re:Lost a customer

[h4rr4r]

I have never had that work well save for KVM and that more or less lets the guest directly attached to the graphics card. I have not tried in VirtualBox, but I just have not had that need.

Direct access to 3d hardware is a huge security risk for a tiny gain. Since that means that guest can write to a device that has DMA. Using something in between instead sounds like a performance hit.

Re:Lost a customer

[nobodie]

The thing I see is two-fold
1) people tend to like what they use. Once a decision is made, then it was the right decision and a good decision unles it becomes painfully clear that it was really wrong.
2) I use VirtualBox by necessity because my workplace requires that I input a minute amount of data into Filemaker once a week. Now, if it were up to me I would use kvm. It is better integrated into Fedora than VB and equally free. But my IT buddy who is responsible for my computer and is an old linux sysadmin from before kvm (now having gone to the fruity darkside) is more comfortable with VB because he has adminned it before. So, I do what works best for him rather than make him uncomfortable.

The products all are very similar and for 99% of what they are used for any of them are fine. Money counts, though.

No kidding!

[Anonymous Coward]

TFS rants in circles, and the subject of the complaint is a product named "Parallels"?

My head hurts.

Re:No kidding!

[PsychoSlashDot]

Damnit, I just posted that. Now my post is redundant.

Re:No kidding!

[davester666]

No, it's ok. You posted in parallel.

Department of redundancy department.

[PsychoSlashDot]

Yes, but... has Parallels supplied an uninstaller or listed the steps to fully uninstall the files?

Re:Department of redundancy department.

[houstonbofh]

So will you be modded "redundant" for redundantly pointing out the redundancy in TFS?

Re:Department of redundancy department.

[Anonymous Coward]

So will you be modded "redundant" for redundantly pointing out the redundancy in TFS?

No, he should be modded "parallel".

remote access

[KiloByte]

The most important part: what this daemon does is allowing remove access to the computer, through Parallels' servers, using closed source code on both sides. Let's see, is there anything nefarious possible?

Re:remote access

[houstonbofh]

I wouldn't worry. As soon as the NSA has an uninstaller written, Parallels will release it.

Re:remote access

[Dunbal]

And that uninstaller will remove the offending program, and silently patch your OS to make sure the back door stays wide open. Cos "national security" is more important than your right to privacy, ya know?

Macintosh's ease of use

[girlintraining]

Let me guess? Approved in the app store. And that ease of use that's touted by Apple means that it's helluva hard for the average person to get under the hood. Imagine grandma looking at this:

~#: _

Now, you want to tell her what commands to run to uninstall this? This is the problem with the walled garden approach, and Apple loves walls. And money. And you, the user... well, you're just buying the experience of owning an Apple. But good luck getting it to do what you want if Apple or an app developer decides to make it "easy" for you.

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[Anonymous Coward]

Troll.

Parallels is NOT sold in the AppStore. It's installed via a custom stand-alone installer.

You have NO idea what you are trolling about. GTFO.

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[bomanbot]

Well, you guessed wrong, because this article is about the Parallels Desktop Software for Macs that is installing the unwanted parts.

Funny enough, a software like Parallels Desktop needs such low-level access to the system that it would most certainly be prohibited from being approved into the Mac App Store. Apple is pretty strict about what kind of low-level access its App Store apps are allowed and where they can install their stuff.

So if the user would have stayed inside the walled garden, he would actually be safe from this particular threat.

I do not want to say that the walled garden is flawless or does not have some significant problems, but your guess is really simply wrong in this case.

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[girlintraining]

Parallels is NOT sold in the AppStore. It's installed via a custom stand-alone installer.

Of course it is...

You have NO idea what you are trolling about.

Yeah... you're right, the app store is totally safe.

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[girlintraining]

Funny enough, a software like Parallels Desktop needs such low-level access to the system that it would most certainly be prohibited from being approved into the Mac App Store.

You're absolutely right. This link doesn't go to the approved and ready for download link of the software in the app store.

Apple is pretty strict about what kind of low-level access its App Store apps are allowed and where they can install their stuff.

So they wouldn't, say, approve malware then...

do not want to say that the walled garden is flawless or does not have some significant problems, but your guess is really simply wrong in this case.

Yes, those citations are powerless against the power of denial.

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[Maestro485]

What exactly does Apple have to do with shoddy 3rd party software?

Neither Parallels or VMWare Fusion are in Apple's App store. So if grandma is going to the store to buy virtualization software, I would hope she has some idea of what she is doing.

Also, if grandma happens to hose the Ubuntu machine you gave her and she has to look at this:

~#:_

Does that mean Linux is shit and just for freetard lusers?

Re: Macintosh's ease of use

[Anonymous Coward]

Its apple store, not app store

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[MightyYar]

I thought you were serious until I clicked on your Apple link.

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[bomanbot]

Your first link is not the app store, though. That would be the online Apple Store, you know like Amazon.com? The one that actually has some brick-and-mortar cousins? With the Macs standing around and the Genius Bar? Sorta like Best Buy, but Apple-specific?

And, also that is definitely not for download, because, you know there is a shipping estimate there? And the first picture actually shows you the physical box the software is shipping in?

Besides, that box also contains the old version 8 which does not have the obnoxious behavior written about here. That one is new for version 9, which is not in your link.

Re: Macintosh's ease of use

[Anonymous Coward]

That's the Online Store NOT the MacAppStore you stupid imbecile.

STFU AND GTFO YOU PILLOCK

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[dgatwood]

First, that link isn't to the app store. That's the boxed edition. Second, you'll notice that in the product description for this feature, there's a ** that says "Separate purchase in the App Store".

So unless that page you linked to is lying, the App Store version does not do what they're talking about here. Only the separate installer that you get directly from Parallels installs the daemon in question.

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[Zcar]

Parallels is NOT sold in the AppStore. It's installed via a custom stand-alone installer.

Of course it is...

You do realize that's not the App store, but Apple's store where they ship you a box with the software?

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[Maestro485]

LOL!

Way to show you're just an outspoken Apple hater who literally has no idea what they are talking about.

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[gnasher719]

Let me guess? Approved in the app store. And that ease of use that's touted by Apple means that it's helluva hard for the average person to get under the hood. Imagine grandma looking at this:

Parallels software is _not_ available on the App Store. If you look at what this software does, there is not a chance in hell that it would be allowed on the App Store. So your little rant is completely missing the point. So when you say it is "the problem with the walled garden", you are completely wrong: This app is _not_ inside the walled garden. It does things that the "walled garden" would protect you from.

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[UnknowingFool]

Let me guess. You don't know the difference between the Mac App Store (which is Apple's curated App Store with its walled gardens) and store.apple.com which is their online store where they sell iPhones, iMacs, software and peripherals.

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[Anonymous Coward]

You've been corrected bra boy, own it.

--

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[Bill_the_Engineer]

Too bad your examples are poor and the last one is off-topic.

troll-in-training?

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[Anonymous Coward]

You are dumb.

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[Anonymous Coward]

What the HELL is going on with this girlintraining account? It's been posting some weird stuff. Some appears to be very insightful. Some like this is off the wall and seems entirely like corporate sponsored FUD. Multiple posts per day. Some quite lengthy. Who owns this account? I can't quite figure out the angle.

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[Anonymous Coward]

What exactly does Apple have to do with shoddy 3rd party software?

Neither Parallels or VMWare Fusion are in Apple's App store. So if grandma is going to the store to buy virtualization software, I would hope she has some idea of what she is doing.

Also, if grandma happens to hose the Ubuntu machine you gave her and she has to look at this:

~#:_

Does that mean Linux is shit and just for freetard lusers?

I've generally set up windows installs virtually under linux using kvm, which comes with the kernel, using VMM , virtual machine manager gui under Ubuntu. Which decade did you last try linux?

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[girlintraining]

You do realize that's not the App store, but Apple's store where they ship you a box with the software?

I notice you ignored the second link: Which shows that malware can and has been uploaded to the app store, which was my original point; The OP said that nothing like Parallels Desktop could be in the app store because it was too "low level".

I'd consider something that steals my credit card info and takes over my browser pretty "low level". The reason why Parallels Desktop isn't in the app store is because it loads kernel modules, not because the app store is somehow 'more secure'.

But hey... I already got a -1 everywhere else for pointing out that it's not all sunshine and kittens in AppleLand and got furious anger and rage from the fanboys... so what's a missed point between slashdotters?

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[girlintraining]

Your first link is not the app store, though. That would be the online Apple Store, you know like Amazon.com?

That's nice. What about the second link, the one that shows that the app store can and does have malware in it, approved by Apple? The only reason Parallels Desktop isn't available in the app store isn't because Apple is concerned about security but because of an arbitrary restriction that everything purchased online be in a self-contained .app file. Whoopie.

Both you and the other guy abjectly refused to notice that link, instead focusing on the first one -- as if Apple's requirement that online purchases be self-contained somehow is a bar against security breaches or behavior like that under discussion.

But you know... whatever. You can't argue with fanboys; No matter what you say, they'll take the most insignificant thing and say "See! See! This tiny little bit right here is wrong! You spelled the product name wrong! That means everything you said must also be wrong!"

And yet... I'm the troll...

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[Anonymous Coward]

Trololol angry tranny.

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[cbhacking]

(She?) has always been pretty active, and used to be fairly insightful even if occasionally oversensitive about certain subjects and sometimes misinformed (but not usually to the point of repeatedly stating a false claim). No big deal; we all have our buttons and we all make mistakes. Overall, her posts were a definite benefit to the community.

That was, oh, up until a couple years ago. I couldn't give you a precise point, but these days it sadly does seem more like a troll account. Sad, because the points are still sometimes interesting (such as yes, the Apple app store does sometimes let malware through; no surprise to anybody clued in about this stuff, but Apple explicitly targets the non-clued-in). The way places and times of their presentation, however, leave a lot to be desired. As I said, it's sad.

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[Billly Gates]

You do realize that's not the App store, but Apple's store where they ship you a box with the software?

I notice you ignored the second link: Which shows that malware can and has been uploaded to the app store, which was my original point; The OP said that nothing like Parallels Desktop could be in the app store because it was too "low level".

I'd consider something that steals my credit card info and takes over my browser pretty "low level". The reason why Parallels Desktop isn't in the app store is because it loads kernel modules, not because the app store is somehow 'more secure'.

But hey... I already got a -1 everywhere else for pointing out that it's not all sunshine and kittens in AppleLand and got furious anger and rage from the fanboys... so what's a missed point between slashdotters?

You have no idea how bad you have it with Windows. I say this as a Windows 7 user too. The reason it is a big deal is former Windows users who switched to the Mac left XP/Vista because of this kind of crap!

Registry entries, malware, every free app including malware to slow down yoursystem including sourceforge using i3, eyecandy, ask, or whatever michevious crap! With a mac you want to transfer MS Office to a newer computer? Just copy the files to your phone and copy them back and run them. That is it. No fancy installers, no bizaare registry entries, simple folders, nothing hidden. It is what could have been if neophytes did not pick Windows back in the 1990s.

So if the Mac turns into windows why spend 2x for the switch. I almost was one of them when I seriously considered it 3 years ago. In the end I could not justify the cost sadly and the non upgrade options if I want to game plus my software like Office would need to be repurchased.

I hear the Linux users on here laughing at Windows users. But I no longer run Linux as I had beta quality experience with ATI drivers breaking during updates and terrible guis like gnome 3.

While Apple still has bugs like in its store it is known as a superior platform and people on the west coast use it heavily in universities. In the east it is more 50/50 windows vs mac. They are better if you can afford one and do not mind limited upgrades.

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[girlintraining]

You have no idea how bad you have it with Windows.

Yeah, it's terrible. Having to worry about whether the latest game will run on the operating system I'm running... or buying hardware at OEM pricing online and incrementally upgrading my system instead of just buying a new one every year... and then there's that pesky problem of having to lug it into an official microsoft store whenever something breaks on it instead of the nearest 14 year old kid. It's rough.

Registry entries, malware, every free app including malware to slow down yoursystem including sourceforge using i3, eyecandy, ask, or whatever michevious crap!

Yes. Because malware authors target the OS with the biggest marketshare. Should Apple one day rule the world, and the Fanboys walk tall... they too shall feel the pain of worms, malware, and things being installed without your consent--oh wait, what was this article about again?

No fancy installers, no bizaare registry entries, simple folders, nothing hidden.

Yeah... that's really hard stuff there. Having to double click on an icon and click next a few times... or opening regedit and going through a tree-structure until you find the right entry, laid out just like any other filesystem.

So if the Mac turns into windows why spend 2x for the switch.

You're spending 2x now... you'll spend a lot more if Macintosh becomes the dominant OS... since you can only buy a Mac from Apple, and you can only buy the OS from Apple, and you can only get the apps from Apple, and all the peripherals are sold by... Apple. All that competition in the PC world sure does keep prices, er... really high, I guess.

While Apple still has bugs like in its store it is known as a superior platform...

To fanboys yes. To the rest of us, it's just another walled garden...

In the east it is more 50/50 windows vs mac.

Citation needed. Go ahead, I'll wait. While you're busy looking for that magical unicorn, articles like this continue to crop up suggesting that China doesn't want to pay the Apple tax.

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[Anonymous Coward]

Go walk to any university? Macs are everywhere.

I use Windows as well, but under no illusion it is a good platform. Before you critisize the grandparent for mentioning installation explain that to the XP die hards who wont upgrade?

Reason being is they have tons of software. Some with installers lone gone and lost! With a mac you just copy and forget. True some software might not be fully compatible but if you have 16 programs and utilities and 85 gigs of pictures, data, and other settings you are screwed when you want to upgrade.

Windows does not have this. You need to install it which is why people stay with XP on pentium IVs with 512 megs ... in addition to being cheapskates as well and hating change.

You are the first person I know who likes Windows. The rest put up with it because we have work to do and it comes with every computer. There is a reason people are switching to tablets. They just work and you no longer need to wait 10 minutes to use it unlike the Windows XP boxes with Windows Rot and malware on.

Linux while better does have problems with shared libraries and reliance on scripts which are more programs than true scripts in /etc which means you can't just copy over something and run.

You can't criticize if you have not used it for any period of time. Windows truly is awefull and a result of the lack of competition just like IE 6 was.

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[sydneyfong]

No matter what you say, they'll take the most insignificant thing and say "See! See! This tiny little bit right here is wrong! You spelled the product name wrong! That means everything you said must also be wrong!"

Half of your post in #44780265 is wrong, and basically all of your post in #44780073 is wrong, except the parts where you start making your own opinions based on the wrong information. Is it not fair for people to point that out? If I made a post that was half full of misinformation, I would expect to be called out for that.

Perhaps you would like to think that although all your premises (the most insignificant thing!) are wrong, your conclusions (the important part, yea?) are still correct. But if that is so, why bother to attempt to make an reasoned argument in the first place? Just click the "Post Anonymously" button and flame away!

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[Anonymous Coward]

filth

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[Anonymous Coward]

In the east it is more 50/50 windows vs mac.

Citation needed. Go ahead, I'll wait. While you're busy looking for that magical unicorn, articles like this continue to crop up suggesting that China doesn't want to pay the Apple tax.

You don't get it: "the east" is New York.

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[MightyYar]

I notice you ignored the second link:

Oh my God, you WERE serious.

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[Anonymous Coward]

We have a saying at our repair shop. "If you're stupid enough to buy Apple, you're stupid enough to pay for it."

Everything Apple cost generally 3x as much or more for parts and repairs.

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[Anonymous Coward]

Trololol insecure bigot.

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[Anonymous Coward]

No, it means you're an Apple shill and you've been sucking on Steve Jobs' cancerous, rotting dick for so long that his sperm has fermented in your skull.

Your hero is dead, let that sink in for a while. Better yet, your genius hero is dead because he bought into medical quackery rather than receiving treatment. Yeah, he was a real "innovator" alright. Too bad he couldn't innovate his way out of an early grave.

Re:Macintosh's ease of use

[Zcar]

I "ignored" it because I read it and saw it had nothing to do with the misstatement I quoted, but was another point entirely.

Nobody smells the NSA?

[Anonymous Coward]

Seriously? This sounds exactly like something the NSA would do. It makes me incredibly wary of VMWare, etc. as well though I may be willing to trust open source VM solutions...maybe.

Bonus: CAPTCHA = "reformat"

Re:Nobody smells the NSA?

[Mitchell314]

If it was the NSA, it wouldn't be making itself public. ;)

Re:Nobody smells the NSA?

[houstonbofh]

Nobody smells the Spanish Inquisition!

Re:Nobody smells the NSA?

[Skapare]

It's not ... it's pretending to be something else.

Re:Nobody smells the NSA?

[marcello_dl]

This make sense but effective backdoors belong to the OS level, the controllers' level, the hardware level. Not to some half-assed installer of a daemon.

Batch file uninstaller needed.

[Anonymous Coward]

Should be simple enough if you already know where the files are.

Re:Batch file uninstaller needed.

[deviated_prevert]

Should be simple enough if you already know where the files are.

More correctly with a Mac it would be a simple shell script with elevated privilege to write to core directories. Same thing basically as a bash script run as root. Remember when Sony put a root kit on audio CDs? There were actually repair utilities created to remove it because the core files were so obfuscated in Windows that it was hard to remove at first until all the registry changes were found out.

Sony did not cave in at first LOL it took a concerted effort from users and sites like Slashdot to get the bastards to even admit to the existence of the malware!

This system intrusion was most likely done to inform the company when someone installed the software later, you know the old trick of leaving shit on the computer to keep track of customers habits. Much more reliable than website cookies which most users know how to delete even on a Mac, even some more skilled Windows users know how to show and remove the appropriate hidden files some shareware leaves under \userdata after removing "free trials" after running the installer but not accepting the license.

The problem with this company is that went beyond what windows crapware does and installed shit to protected areas of the Mac system on a free trial before the license was accepted and the rest of the software was installed. Either this was a genuine mistake or it was an illegal user tracking malware attack on Mac users.

Would be interesting to hear what the company says about it. I imagine that they are in extreme damage control mode the way Sony was after they got caught being a digital asshole.

Burning bridges

[onyxruby]

When you decline to install something you expect that it doesn't get installed. Parallels is going to burn a lot of trust by pulling this stunt. The cost of acquiring their customers has certainly got to exceed the profit from people who decide that they will change their mind and want to run this software anyways.

At a bare minimum they need to start by building a package that will remove all traces post haste for the anyone that wants it. For people that don't want to run the package explicit instructions need to be made available about how to completely remove this. Any number of companies have screwed up royally before this, those that are still respected are the ones that instituted proper damage control.

Re:Burning bridges

[Em Adespoton]

When you decline to install something you expect that it doesn't get installed. Parallels is going to burn a lot of trust by pulling this stunt. The cost of acquiring their customers has certainly got to exceed the profit from people who decide that they will change their mind and want to run this software anyways.

At a bare minimum they need to start by building a package that will remove all traces post haste for the anyone that wants it. For people that don't want to run the package explicit instructions need to be made available about how to completely remove this. Any number of companies have screwed up royally before this, those that are still respected are the ones that instituted proper damage control.

This is not the first time Parallels has failed to uninstall things; I ran an installer of a trial product of theirs a few years back, and after uninstalling, still had to go in manually and clean up some components that wanted to run some sort of service. I haven't touched Parallels since. VirtualBox allows me to write my own additions, and if I need something more polished, VMWare Fusion is still rock solid.

So it will be interesting to see Parallels' response to thiis, as it definitely puts their (paid) installer solidly in the category of Potentially Unwanted Application alongside the CNet downloader and all the bundleware coming out of Russia and China.

Re:Burning bridges

[Anonymous Coward]

I think you guys need to go back and read the screen a little more carefully! It does not say it will not install it, what it says is that it will not enable it!

Re:Burning bridges

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple itself does this kind of crap. Back when QuickTime was necessary to view some online video, they'd bundle iTunes and not allow you to remove it.

Re:Burning bridges

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple itself does this kind of crap. Back when QuickTime was necessary to view some online video, they'd bundle iTunes and not allow you to remove it.

Everyone does this, this happens all the time. I really don't know what the big deal is, I've installed many programs that had extra crap I didn't want and this is nothing new. Use a different product if you don't like the package.
Firefox didn't ask me if I wanted their update service installed either, it's probably an NSA spy machine.

Re:Burning bridges

[Billly Gates]

Apple itself does this kind of crap. Back when QuickTime was necessary to view some online video, they'd bundle iTunes and not allow you to remove it.

Everyone does this, this happens all the time. I really don't know what the big deal is, I've installed many programs that had extra crap I didn't want and this is nothing new. Use a different product if you don't like the package.
Firefox didn't ask me if I wanted their update service installed either, it's probably an NSA spy machine.

Difference is that is a Windows problem. Macs are better in that you have simple folders and no registry. To back up a program you copy it to a source then copy it back and run it. No install programs that install malware. Windows users are just used to bad things.

Re:Burning bridges

[Anonymous Coward]

Why is everyone over reacting about this? It sounds like a bug. If Mac users knew anything about their systems, they'd know it doesn't matter if files are installed anywhere... there are no "low level" directories... in UNIX everything is a file. It just doesn't fucking matter. Stop thinking like a Windows user.

Parallels is actually kind of neat in that it will unload the daemon from the kernel when the software isn't running. I haven't seen any other developer do that with their software, usually leaving daemons running in memory even if the application isn't launched.

If you really want to know what was installed and where, learn about the system and don't blame the developer for your own ignorance.

lsbom is your friend

more recent lsbom howtos

Re:Burning bridges

[Urkki]

I think you guys need to go back and read the screen a little more carefully! It does not say it will not install it, what it says is that it will not enable it!

From TFS: and the application is started each time the system is rebooted.

Sounds Like They do enable it...

Re:Burning bridges

[Anonymous Coward]

When you decline to install something you expect that it doesn't get installed. Parallels is going to burn a lot of trust by pulling this stunt. The cost of acquiring their customers has certainly got to exceed the profit from people who decide that they will change their mind and want to run this software anyways.

Ah, if that were only true for larger companies who walk around with not ONE fuck to give for the customer, because they know there will ALWAYS be "enough" customers that they can treat them however they want. This is the inherent problem with the world becoming more flat, and a hell of a lot more paying consumers in it. Demand is basically too high in some areas with little competition, resulting in corporate abuse.

I hate that arrogant mentality, and another shitty example comes up every day with horrible customer service, or fees they chose to add on just because...they could.

Re:Burning bridges

[jimicus]

> To back up a program you copy it to a source then copy it back and run it. No install programs that install malware. Windows users are just used to bad things.

Not always true, unfortunately. Quite a few mac applications come with installers if they're doing anything even remotely clever with the underlying OS - Parallels does, as does gimp-print.

It's not unusual to find that bothering to write an uninstaller in the first place - never mind one that actually uninstalls everything - simply never happens. Fortunately this is seldom a big problem, but it can be an annoyance nonetheless and if you claim it doesn't happen you're either ignorant or disingenuous.

("Ignorant" isn't an insult, BTW, it simply means "you did not know" - and there's seldom shame in not knowing something. But it's frequently used as an insult by.... well, I guess ignorant people. People who did not know that it shouldn't be used as such.)

Re:Burning bridges

[Billly Gates]

It is fairly rare but getting more common as Apple adds more complex things and folders sadly.

As I said I am a Windows 7 user and a former Linux user and not a fanboi. I went to school late in my life and saw all the students using Macs. If you have no must have business app the mac is a better value.

I hated Windows with a passion for years, though NT was a nice start MS plagued it with garbage like registry editors, buggy MFC classes, proprietary browsers, and no real cohesive design with all of its components. Not as bad as Linux, but still you can tell there is a war between the Office and Windows groups and why the tablet PC was crippled by the office group. Then the IPAD came why MS bickered with itself.

The active X/com/win32, office, and then the Windows kernel are distinct. Where as Apple everything has a unified vision and designed to work together well.

3 out of 40 programs that act Windows like is much better than 40 out of 40 with Windows. Even sourceforge includes adware/malware with their free software installers and it drives me damn crazy. For non technical and semi technical users Apple is a better bet if you can afford it and do not have a must have win32 app for work.

CFAA applies ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Hmmm, user explicitly stated they did not want this installed, sounds like unauthorized access. Shouldn't the CFAA be applicable here ?

Re:CFAA applies ?

[ringman8567]

It can't apply otherwise the FBI would have raided their headquarters, siezed all their computer equipement, and arrested all the directors.

New slogan from Parallel

[Anonymous Coward]

"We run software you didn't ask for in parallel" lol

Doesn't seem all that hard to diff

[t0qer]

or am I missing something?

Make 3 partitions on an OSX drive. Install OSX into all 3. Now on /sda install Parallels. /sdb leave vanilla. Boot into /sdc and mount /dev/sda /mnt/A. mount /dev/sdb /mnt/b. Diff a and b.

Granted your average user won't do this, but anyone wanting to play hero should be able to do it easily.

Re:Doesn't seem all that hard to diff

[Cap'nPedro]

And when a new service/process/task is installed with Windows software average users, nay nobody, even cares at all.

Re: Doesn't seem all that hard to diff

[Anonymous Coward]

Your approach would show you everything that installs when installing Parallels, but doesn't tell you what is installed for just Parallels Access (the unwanted portion of the Parallels Desktop install).

Re: Doesn't seem all that hard to diff

[drinkypoo]

Your approach would show you everything that installs when installing Parallels, but doesn't tell you what is installed for just Parallels Access (the unwanted portion of the Parallels Desktop install).

Step 1: Clone install
Step 2: Install then remove Parallels Desktop on cloned install
Step 3: cmp
Step 4: Profit!

Re:Doesn't seem all that hard to diff

[Anonymous Coward]

First, sd? is a Linux thing. If you're going to try to act like a 'hero' maybe you should actually be familiar with the system you're talking about. Second, you can just look at the bom for the appropriate package to figure out what was installed. A OS X 'hero' would already know this.

Oh the Humanity!

[Anonymous Coward]

Installer malware comes to Mac?!? Who is really surprised by this...Maybe now the Mac fanbois will finally stop saying they are immune to all this crap.

That's the new normal

[no-body]

We own you.

So what's the problem here?

Apps(R)

[Anonymous Coward]

Alternate headline: "App update apps unrelated app without permission, results in apps apping other apps."

Parallels indeed

[Mister Liberty]

Microsoft, Sony, any other?

They know what's good for you

[Anonymous Coward]

They know what's good for you. After all it's an Apple product.

Re: They know what's good for you

[Anonymous Coward]

Parallels is not made by Apple.

Re: They know what's good for you

[Anonymous Coward]

But it's for an apple machine, so it's an apple product.

That is why you have something to remove...

[nullhero]

unwanted software. CleanMyMac2 to the rescue. Found all the Parallels Access files and good-bye. No hunting or anything!! Left Parallels alone just removed the PA that I asked not to install. Though I wish everyone would just create an app that keeps it's files to itself so when I trash it EVERYTHING is gone. But then those that make CleanMyMac2 would not be selling their software.

Re:That is why you have something to remove...

[Anonymous Coward]

Because the answer to unwanted software is clearly more unwanted software.

Re:That is why you have something to remove...

[Anonymous Coward]

You don't get your aids cured by getting bare buttfucked by a bunch of meth heads repeatedly.

Even the name of that app "CleanMyAss2" sounds like a fake AV scam.

Also Macs and every other apple products are crap. But that's another topic.

Re:That is why you have something to remove...

[Billly Gates]

If you have to run cleaners then why switch to the Mac?

I can see why mac users are all saddled up while Windows users are sratching their heads thinking it is normal, but man if this is becoming a problem why pay the premium?

Re:That is why you have something to remove...

[Anonymous Coward]

Not only that... this goes to show that there is nothing inherently special about how applications install and behave in OSX. In other words, OSX is just as susceptible to the same kind of shit Windows users see; and that the state of your computer is more correlated with the software you install, and less about the OS itself..

Re:That is why you have something to remove...

[Anonymous Coward]

If you have to run cleaners then why switch to the Mac?

I can see why mac users are all saddled up while Windows users are sratching their heads thinking it is normal, but man if this is becoming a problem why pay the premium?

I'll gladly take one app out of 100 that creates this situation on Mac vs. 99 out of 100 times on Windows.

In many cases, the premium is still worth it.

Re:That is why you have something to remove...

[Anonymous Coward]

Which files are the bad 'uns?

My CMM2 reports these as the Parallels files:

Parallels Desktop.app
A bunch of stuff in Preferences (not an issue, even if redundant or useless)

Five executable Perl files in /usr/bin:
prl_perf_ctl
prlsrvctl
prlctl
prl_convert
prl_disk_tool

There is also a /private/var/tmp file (almost certainly not an issue):
prl_event_tap.socket_503

I have to review the Perl files, but I haven't seen anything stinky yet from a quick once-over.

However, Perl is an almost ideal obfuscation language...

It doesn't list any startup daemons, but I'm almost certain that Parallels has at least one. Maybe CMM2 doesn't see all the files.

Was going to buy...

[Anonymous Coward]

I was going to upgrade to Parallels Desktop 9 but after reading about this I might as well switch to VMware fusion 6.

Overblown

[MadChicken]

First of all, there was ONE "less than stellar" review. The Ars review was pretty pathetically trollish, I have no idea why. Check Google if you don't believe it. http://www.google.com/search?q=parallels+access+review

I used it in beta testing and its head and shoulders above other remote access tools. Their pricing is out to lunch, but it is an excellent tool.

Second, Parallels always has done stuff like this. The last version or two has been popping up ads. It's lazy of them and stupid but it's not really an "unrelated daemon".

Don't expect their support to give you instructions on how to uninstall it, just run something like CleanMyMac2 and move on.

Re:Overblown

[jedidiah]

So only one site had the balls to say something negative about a Mac product despite the fact that it had it coming. That is nothing to brag about. All this does is reinforce the idea that Apple users subscribe to a mindless groupthink.

The fact that this app has been doing abusive things in the past does not excuse the fact that they are doing it know.

And why should you use 3rd party cleanup tools on a Mac? That's the kind of crap that WinDOS is supposed to be famous for.

Your response is a total fanboy fail.

Re:Overblown

[BitZtream]

Parallels is head and shoulders over RDP? ...

No, not anywhere close. There is nothing on the planet that competes with RDP for remote access. Your statements show that you are truly ignorant of the world around you.

Try again shill.

*rdp includes citrix

Re:Overblown

[MadChicken]

Yes it's head and shoulders above other remote access tools for the iPad. I thought that was obvious. Or are you truly ignorant of things like, oh I don't know, TFA?

RDP is nice but it doesn't have the integration that this does to make things finger-friendly.

Re:Overblown

[MadChicken]

Read Ihtnako's review. That one is bang on, not the Ars piece. Yes it's flawed, and OH MY it's way too expensive.

If I'm a fanboy then I must be the worst in history...

Re:Overblown

[Anonymous Coward]

There is nothing on the planet that competes with RDP for remote access.

There is, actually. RDP is a bandwidth hog and it has massive latencies, depending on the width of your pipe and the distance to the remote machine. NoMachine is actually quite impressive for remoting, a low latency, low bandwidth technology... but generally for remoting to a *nix server. Over a dial up connection it would beat RDP over fibre.

Re:Overblown

[Elbart]

You're linking to a Google Search page although you're talking about a publicly accessible ONLINE ARTICLE? Seek medical attention immediately.

Virtualbox anyone?

[Anonymous Coward]

So the story is that some people with too much money install an expensive virtualizer that doesn't live up to expectations while there are perfectly good free alternatives...

This type of BigBrotherWare is UNPARALLELED

[Anonymous Coward]

This type of BigBrotherWare is completely unPARALELLed. The competition cannot come close!

Mac OS X OS system?

[davidbrit2]

Mac Operating System X operating system system?

This is a new record for redundancy records.

Re:Mac OS X OS system?

[Anonymous Coward]

Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo.

Dammit.

Is it really that big a deal?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ok so they installed access without permission. Burn them at the stake. Wasn't there old mobile access originally built into parallels? So now it runs separately. Big whoop. The trolls need focus their anger on the NSA. Parallels is a popular product with great feature for a good price. Let's not forget that before you try to burn them at the stake.

I don't know where all the bad reviews of access are coming from. I enjoy the product. Its one of the better remote products I have used. In my IT department it has become the remote app of choice. Turn on mouse and or desktop mode and it enhances your experience with it. I have been using it with parallels 9 since Labor day. Got an early upgrade deal. Let's stop with the Internet whining already.

What's the big deal un-installing this?

[grantspassalan]

I have installed Parallels version 9 and tried out their access program, since it was free for six months. It works as advertised, although on our slow Internet connection it is essentially unusable. Trying to do work on a standard iPad screen that is normally displayed on a big PC monitor or even a big laptop makes for pretty tiny print. $80 per year is pretty steep. $20-$30 is about the maximum I would pay even if our Internet connection for up to par. It will not work on a LAN over Wi-Fi. I have no trouble uninstalling the Access part by simply dragging the Access.app in the applications folder into the trash and then emptying the trash and restarting. I did not see any extraneous processes running according to the Activity Monitor. Running the Parallel.app version 9 does not show any additional processes than before version 9 was installed. If and when I have to do real work, I will just take my MacBook and use the iPad strictly for entertainment, maybe answering an occasional email.

I blame Apple

[LodCrappo]

Seriously, isn't Apple supposed to do all my thinking for me? Why the hell should I have to use my brain and think critically about what software I install on a computer I own is doing? I pay Apple to do that for me. This is bullshit.

Back to the Future

[PopeRatzo]

It is installed with ancillary files scattered around several directories in the system

Ah, the advantages of OSX. No "ancillary files scattered" all around the system when you install something. Remember when all you had to do to uninstall a Mac app was drag it to the Trash?

But the most unsettling part of this is the fact that Parallels had to know they would be found out, and went ahead anyway. When a company gets caught with its pants down, at least there's an indication that they realize there was something wrong with their behavior. This is much worse, because they just didn't care what you think.

Re:Back to the Future

[hlavac]

But the most unsettling part of this is the fact that Parallels had to know they would be found out, and went ahead anyway.

This may just mean they had no choice in the matter. Imagine NSA shows up on your door, tells you you will create a remote access backdoor into your product and not tell anyone or they will screw up you and your company, you will do it too. Any corporation will. It's not NSA writing all those backdoors, it's the poor blackmailed companies themselves, for their own money, with their own know how of their product! And yeah, we can assure the public, NSA does not put backdoors anywhere, right? It's the companies doing it! As for this being a proper place for the backdoor, it is proper place for backdoor into the virtual machines, not the OS.

Re:Back to the Future

[PopeRatzo]

This may just mean they had no choice in the matter. Imagine NSA shows up on your door, tells you you will create a remote access backdoor into your product and not tell anyone or they will screw up you and your company, you will do it too.

We now have precedents of companies that will shut down a service or product rather than comply with the NSA.

That's my gold standard for companies: resist the NSA or I won't use your products or services. And if you DO resist the NSA, I will be a loyal customer.

Re:Back to the Future

[wkearney99]

Not that I disagree with you, but thus far resisting the NSA has meant tanking the company. Just how will you be a loyal customer when the company's shuttered?

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[Anonymous Coward]

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Wont matter much in the long run

[nurb432]

Most end users wont even know it took place. The few that do wont make a dent in their customer base.

Cry me a fckin river man

[Anonymous Coward]

Cry me a fckin river man. Seriously.

Let's be honest and say parrallels as a company su

[Anonymous Coward]

Parallels as a company sucks. Not too long ago when users upgraded to mountain lion they were unable to access their VMs. You had to upgrade to a new version for $50, in order to have the VMs useable. Their website said version 6 did work with mountain lion but then went to change it and basically said FU customers. (here is 11 pages of pissed customers http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?261103-Parallels-6-on-Mountain-Lion-Supported) This latest news makes the company look even worse. I really like parallels as a product but the company behind it is terrible!

Re:What's the big deal un-installing this?

[Anonymous Coward]

And you are sure that's access.app is the only thing useless thing there? And if you specifically said you don't want it and it installs it anyway? This might not be such a big problem with parallers atm, but if it installed some browser bar or extention without your permission, would you not be pissed?

captcha: saddened

Yes, very saddened that this is the way all software seems to be going, fucking the user, just because they can get some bucks out of it, instead of fixing the bugs.

Back to VMware

[Anonymous Coward]

I have an older version of VMware on my iMac (XP) but was going to try Parallels on my new laptop (7). With this news, it's back to VMware for the laptop too. Any company that installs something on one's computer when one has specifically requested that it NOT be installed and that secretly uses system resources, should be crushed like the f..king bugs that they are ...

Sony RootKit moment

[zo2004]

Hope it works as well as it worked for Sony after the RootKit fiasco.

Amazing

[Anonymous Coward]

It is amazing it took so long. Finally, OSX has enough market share that it is being targeted by the same lame things that Windows has been hit with for a very long time. Crapware, Foistware, whatever. Basically you've probably all heard the term WinRot - it is the gradual slowdown of a Windows machine due to crappy software being installed (often along with other installers just like in this instance) leading to the eventual desire to just rebuild the system to speed it back up / fix crashes.

Now it looks like OSX is getting some software likely to cause MacRot. Obviously unneeded, hard to remove, startup software will eventually lead to slow booting, slow running Macs. It did take awhile to get here. Welcome to the club OSX!

Patented!

[Anonymous Coward]

I believe someone tried to patent this. See European patent application publication WO/2006/096699-A2:
"Method for attributing and allocating revenue related to embedded software"
"A relatively recent form of software distribution may be termed "embedded software." This term refers to situations in which a commercial entity seeks to gain some commercial advantage through a software installation on a user's computer, and it provides software desirable to the user to induce that use. The software desired by the user is bundled with software of interest to the distributor."
http://www.google.com/patents/WO2006096699A2

Dear Retards

[Anonymous Coward]

It's pronounced "DEE-mon". Not "DAY-mon".

Once again, "DEE-mon".

See the "ae"? In the literate, non-mouth-breathing, English-speaking world, that gets the "EEEE" sound. As in "Caesar".

HTH

Use my EA case as an example and SUE

[Khyber]

EA got it's ass handed to it in court for pretty much this exact same reason - installing shit on your system without your permission.

Re:Use my EA case as an example and SUE

[Anonymous Coward]

Link or it didn't happen.. ; )

Re:Use my EA case as an example and SUE

[Khyber]

McQuown vs Electronic Arts - nailed their ass for SecuROM.

Glad I saw this in time.

[dmhall]

I have been trying to decide if I want to upgrade my VMWare Fusion or try Parallels again. This answers the question, for good. Trust is so important in a relationship. VMWare has been working fine for me. I guess I was just looking for something new.

"access to Windows applications from an iPad"

[Anonymous Coward]

anyone doing this deserves anything that happens

Backdoor?

[Anonymous Coward]

Guess which 3-letter agency.

Re:What's the big deal un-installing this?

[grantspassalan]

Actually I did tell them that I wanted to try this thing and it actually worked as advertised. I just don't find it useful enough to use, especially since it is very expensive.

Redundant to add at this point but ...

[david614]

Probably worth noting that the users seem to have resolved the problem (with uninstall guidance) for themselves ...