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Dear Microsoft: Don't meddle with Firefox
,----[ Quote ]
| On every "patch Tuesday" the latest roll-up of bug fixes are pushed out to
| every Windows PC (that has automatic update turned on). All well-and-good,
| unless you had .NET 3.5 installed along with Firefox.
|
| Earlier this year Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 was pushed out
| to all relevant PCs. All well-and-good. Except that a hidden portion of the
| update added the Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant Firefox extension.
|
| Without notification, without permission.
|
| The .NET extensions allow (amongst other more 'reasonable' things) for
| websites to install any software of their choosing on your PC. Hang on;
| didn't we all switch to Firefox to avoid such behaviour?
`----
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/25485/1240/
Microsoft may be Firefox's worst vulnerability
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/security/?p=1716
Still a bunch of criminals. There is no "new Microsoft".
Recent:
Microsoft Sabotaging Firefox With Sneaky .NET Updates?
,----[ Quote ]
| Sabotage may be a strong choice of word, but it immediately came to mind with
| the news of Microsoft’s latest .NET update.
|
| The Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1, unleashed in February,
| forces an undisclosed Firefox extension on Windows users,
| called “Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant 1.0″, and it does so without
| asking the users permission.
`----
http://startupearth.com/2009/05/31/microsoft-sabotaging-firefox-with-sneaky-net-updates/
Microsoft Sabotaging Firefox With Sneaky Add-Ons
http://slashdot.org/submission/1010693/Microsoft-Sabotaging-Firefox-With-Sneaky-Add-Ons
Microsoft Installs Firefox Add-ons Sans User Consent
,----[ Quote ]
| 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.
`----
http://techgeist.net/2009/05/microsoft-installs-firefox-add-ons-sans-user-consent/
Microsoft Update Quietly Installs Firefox Extension
,----[ Quote ]
| A routine security update for a Microsoft Windows component installed on tens
| of millions of computers has quietly installed an extra add-on for an untold
| number of users surfing the Web with Mozilla's Firefox Web browser.
`----
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2009/05/microsoft_update_quietly_insta.html?wprss=securityfix
Related:
Ten years of Mozilla
,----[ Quote ]
| Ten years ago, Netscape announced it would release to the public the code of
| its flag ship product, Netscape Communicator 5, making it an open source
| product. The action came at a time when Netscape was still the dominant web
| browser: 65 million users and 90% market share in the educational segment
| according to Netscape’s own accounts. But Microsoft’s Internet Explorer was
| grabbing share at a furious pace thanks to it being free (at a time Netscape
| was about$30) and specially the fact that it came bundled with Windows 95 and
| upcoming Windows 98 (released on June 1998).
`----
http://mozillalinks.org/wp/2008/01/ten-years-of-mozilla/
Gates deposition videos
,----[ Quote ]
| Boies: Do you remember that in January, 1996, a lot of OEMs were
| bundling non-Microsoft browsers?
|
| Gates: I'm not sure.
|
| Boies: What were the non-Microsoft browsers that you were
| concerned about in January of 1996?
|
| Gates: What's the question? You're trying to get me to recall
| what other browsers I was thinking about when I wrote that sentence?
|
| Boies: No, because you've told me that you don't know what you
| were thinking about when you wrote that sentence.
|
| Gates: Right.
|
| Boies: What I'm trying to do is get you to tell me what
| non-Microsoft browsers you were concerned about in January of
| 1996. If it had been only one, I probably would have used the
| name of it. Instead I seem to be using the term non-Microsoft
| browsers. My question is what non-Microsoft browsers were you
| concerned about in January of 1996?
|
| Gates: I'm sure -- what's the question? Is it -- are you asking
| me about when I wrote this e-mail or what are you asking me about?
|
| Boies: I'm asking you about January of 1996.
|
| Gates: That month?
|
| Boies: Yes, sir.
|
| Gates: And what about it?
|
| Boies: What non-Microsoft browsers were you concerned about in
| January of 1996?
|
| Gates: I don't know what you mean "concerned."
|
| Boies: What is it about the word "concerned" that you don't
| understand?
|
| Gates: I'm not sure what you mean by it.
`----
http://wincent.com/a/about/wincent/weblog/archives/2007/02/gates_depositio.php
Gates Deposition Audio and Video
,----[ Quote ]
| Here is our local copy of the depositions of Bill Gates in the
| Microsoft anti-trust suit. We did our best to convert the
| original Windows Media files into an Open format, ogg. Your
| webmaster is responsible for the video transcoding, the
| audio-only files are contributed by a Groklaw member that
| requested to stay anonymous.
`----
http://www.groklaw.net/staticpages/index.php?page=GatesDepo
,----[ Quote ]
| From: Bill Gates
| Sent: Saturday, December 05, 1989 9:44 AM
| To: Bob Muglia (Exchange); Jon DeVaan; Steven Sinofsky
| Cc: Paul Mariz
| Subject: Office rendering
|
| One thing we have got to change is our strategy -- allowing Office
| documents to be rendered very well by OTHER PEOPLES BROWSERS is one of the
| most destructive things we could do to the company.
|
| We have to stop putting any effort into this and make sure that Office
| documents very well depends on PROPRIETARY IE capabilities.
|
| Anything else is suicide for our platform. This is a case where Office has
| to to destroy Windows.
`----
http://www.iowaconsumercase.org/011607/2000/PX02991.pdf
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