I just went to install the Yahoo! messenger and was VERY disturbed by what I saw.
As I work for an ISP, I get calls all day long from people having trouble with software they didn’t even know they installed, and the Yahoo! messenger installation explains a lot of it. First of all, Yahoo! messenger is extremely easy to install. It’s a NEXT NEXT NEXT NEXT N….. operation…. Now, the Installed gives you 2 options (which if you just hit NEXT you miss)…
Typical Installation which installs the Yahoo! Messenger, The Yahoo Toolbar (with pop-up blocker..screws up many web based email and online application services), Yahoo! Extras (Bullshit you dont need but it makes changes to your browsers, and causes general havok on your system.)….or Custom Installation which says “Advanced Users” next to it… now while easy enough, the average user will see “ADVANCED” and decide it’s too complicated for them.
Then below that is an option, pre-selected, Make Yahoo! my default search engine. Of course, I’m a Google fan, so I unchecked this box immediately! WHAT THE FUCK! Nothing Happened! There’s an UNCHECKABLE checkbox.. Those bastards. If people don’t know how to fix this later, they’re STUCK with Yahoo! as their search engine.
Fortunately if you do go into the custom options, you can change this (and any other) settings, but you really shouldn’t have to!
I probably should, but I don’t have the patience to read their TOS. They probably own my soul and my first born. Who knows…
(Side note, it’s time for LiveJournal to add “Google” to it’s spellcheck dictionary!)