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AOL is Badware.. ??? No way

This is an internal blog, so no one on the outside world can read this.   But sometimes I wish they could.

It makes me upset/angry/annoyed to see the continued shots at AOL.  Obviously we've had a rocky past few weeks with the release of the search data. 

But the latest issue is "AOL is Badware".      Such a term is way off the mark.   To see the traffic on WEB-DEV,  even employees believe this.   Everyone can have an opinion, but I think we should remember the details and not jump to such crazy conclusions.

Yes, AOL installs a bunch of software on your machine. Much of this due to product bundles (Spyware protection, Port Magic, Computer Checkup)  that _we_ thought would help the user with a better experience.       Some of this stuff is annoying for sure to us techies,  who don't want anything on our machines.    But to someone not in the "tech" crowd,  a good spyware protector or computer checkup program is far from badware -- it's essential ware.

We should probably have an express install and advanced install.  The trade off is overloading a user with too many options .v. a default "head butt" install.

And case in point:  I was at my friends house last night (yeah, the one with the band).  He was blaming AOL for slowing down his computer.  Guess what?  It was loaded with spyware and other bad stuff -- nothing to do with AOL, all to do with stuff he installed.      I installed the lastest AOL 9.0 Security Edition.. After installing, the Spyware Protector that comes with AOL 9.0 SE,  it continued to remove 128 pieces of malware/spyware !   Now the machine runs much faster. Fixed. Thanks to some software that is bundled with AOL 9.0 SE.       Hmm.... I guess we'd call that "badware" then.  :-(

Comments

Anonymous said…
I agree we need to disclose what's installed.  It appears we are with the Raga version.  We also need to disclose what's not unistalled and why, which also shouldn't be difficult.

AOL receives a lot of bad press just because it has always been fashionable to bash us.
August 29, 2006 at 10:49 AM
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