SillyDog701

[Antony]

A while back I mentioned Firefox's unethical dirty tactic which forces users to update their Firefox to latest version by checking and installing the updates in default setting. It seems to me, Microsoft is much worse than Mozilla Foundation/Corporation. Cnet News.com has the report (video).

Windows Vista decides it's time to configure user's computer, and a reboot was necessary. All by its own. And you don't even have an option to delay the reboot at all.

Windows Vista's auto update setting is believed to be enabled by default, and if users have Vista's auto update on, their computers are subject get configured and rebooted at time Microsoft wishes, users have no option to delay such system reboot. In contrary, Firefox's default setting is to download the update, and the update will be applied at next relaunch of Firefox application.

Such method of rebooting users computer without giving users a chance to manage a convenient time is extremely unethical.

Just for the comparison, Mac OS X's System Update does not reboot (by itself) the machine you. It will give users chance to close and save documents first, and let users to reboot the machine. The default setting (preference) does not even download updates in the background.

Note: I don't have Windows Vista myself.

Watch the video report: Tech Shakedown: Vista forces reboots (Cnet News.com, 3 August 2007)

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X; en-US; rv:1.8.1.6) Gecko/20070725 Firefox/2.0.0.6

[beanboy89]

Last time I installed any critical updates in Vista from Windows Update, Windows did not automatically shut down. I was given the option to shut down immediately, or at a later time.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US; rv:1.8.1.5pre) Gecko/20070714 SeaMonkey/1.1.2

[Don_HH2K]

Start -> Run -> shutdown /a. Problem solved.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.2; en-US; rv:1.8.1.6) Gecko/20070726 BonEcho/2.0.0.6 (ayakawa SSE2-PGU)

[richard mitnick]

I am using two pretty new Vista machines. I have not experienced any of these update problems with either FF or Vista.

FF lets me know that there is an update, but I am not forced to take it. I have checked "Ask me what I want to do.

In Vista, my setting is to Notify me when there are updates. Then, I can pick and choose what I want to install.

>>RSM

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US; rv:1.8.1.5pre) Gecko/20070710 Firefox/2.0.0.4 Navigator/9.0b2

[Fulvio]

I am using two pretty new Vista machines. I have not experienced any of these update problems with either FF or Vista.

FF lets me know that there is an update, but I am not forced to take it. I have checked "Ask me what I want to do.

In Vista, my setting is to Notify me when there are updates. Then, I can pick and choose what I want to install.

>>RSM

Richard,
we know, but, Antony is taking the side of the newbies and the clueless, who believe that whatever is given by default must be good. It is not "unethical", but rather thoughtless.
And, what about the Scam designation to some mail, in SeaMonkey. There is not even a setting to check or uncheck, and it is a daily nuisance.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.6) Gecko/20070802 SeaMonkey/1.1.4

[Pu7o]

Actually, XP does that too, just very rarely.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; pt) AppleWebKit/522.15.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0.3 Safari/522.15.5

[Antony]

The key thing I complain is such setting is in default. As Fulvio, pointed out, there are a number of users do not know where the settings are and/or not capable of making the change, as well as a number of non-newbies are NOT aware of such auto-rebooting behaviour.

At the time when they first realise Vista's auto-reboot feature was the default setting, they might have lost their valuable data or their intensive over-night number crunching tasks being interrupted , which, most likely, wouldn't be a pleasant experience.

Some may argue, saving your documents from time to time. However, a reboot would also lost the opened applications. Which defeats the purpose of sleep/hibernation. If you have a desk (not shared with others), do you clean up your desk every night, and take out all the often used items each morning?

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X; en-US; rv:1.8.1.6) Gecko/20070725 Firefox/2.0.0.6

[jjssparkle]

My simplest solution: With all of the banter I've heard over Vista, negative, I'm just going to hang in there with XP until perhaps whatever comes AFTER Vista!

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.6) Gecko/20070725 Firefox/2.0.0.6

[richard mitnick]

Sparkle-

Read my post above.

>>RSM

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.6) Gecko/20070725 Firefox/2.0.0.6

[Kratos]

I have also used Vista for months now and it hasn't done that once and I certainly haven't changed those settings

UserAgent: Opera/9.10 (Nintendo Wii; U; ; 1621; en)

[Windows 2000TM]

It is true, Windows Vista Basic will automatically download any updates even ones that are optional and install them, then it will reboot without warning and closes everything. Also, inter next explorer 7 also closes and re-opens without warning.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.7pre) Gecko/20070815 Firefox/2.0.0.6 Navigator/9.0b3