Here at Techgeist, we do not like it when software does stuff to other software without asking. The problems are made that much worse when it’s the operating system doing the dirty work. So we are all pretty angry at Microsoft right now. As part of a service pack for the .Net Framework, which they rolled out as a critical update via Windows Update, Microsoft also installed the “.Net Framework Assistant” add-on onto users’ Firefox installations.
First off, Microsoft, shame on you for messing with Firefox. Messing with any software is bad enough, but to do something to alter a browser, a market space in which Microsoft is constantly losing ground, seems like nothing more than a dirty move. As an outside party, I cannot say anything about Microsoft’s intentions. But what I can say is not presenting a clear option to users before installing an add-on is the way that malware makers operate.
The second big problem is that not only does the add-on give Firefox some security vulnerabilities present in Internet Explorer, but the way by which users can get rid of the the add-on is convoluted at best. You can disable the add-on with the press of a button. Unfortunately, the uninstall button is greyed out. The only way I’ve found to get rid of it is to do some registry modification (a guide to what you need to do can be found here). Seriously, Microsoft? Is this your idea of how to play nice and make the other kids like you?
