PG: care to comment? Were you involved in this investment decision?
Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows
81–90 of 468 posts
Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows
#82The crapware situation on Windows is horrible. I'm a Mac/Linux user but from time to time I have to power up my Windows VM. A few days ago I wanted to install the Partition Magic trial on my Win XP VM. Having left Windows around 2005 I figured that typing "Partition Magic Win XP download" in Google would be helpful. I got a handful of "reputable" download sources like CNet and the like. I went there and was bombarded…
"A few days ago I wanted to install the Partition Magic trial on my Win XP VM"
Windows XP is more than a decade old. The latest release, nearly five.
To generalize about the current state of Windows based upon recent experience with Windows XP is either ignorant, disingenuous, or blindly biased.
Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
A lot of OS X apps are installed by dragging the app to /Applications, no installer involved, it may be one of the reasons.
Not familiar with the OSX installation procedure, but I assume that dragging the app into the folder runs some installer script? Are there perhaps restrictions on what can be done via these scripts that would require 2 distinct actions to install say a browser toolbar and application?
Most OS X applications are usually a folder that behaves like an executable (has a custom icon, will run the app when you double click on it). So no, it's not running an installer script, it's just copying a folder, and the app runs with just what's in the folder, no install process needed.
For things that require changing system components, other apps etc. there is a normal install wizard.
Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows
#84> Although the company claims it is all “non-personally identifiable data”, according to its website this surprisingly includes not only IP but the globally unique MAC addresses.
Enough with the scare tactics. A Mac adress is not, in any way, globally unique.
Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, I've run afoul of the "download button" adverts before. I'm not surprised to see them on torrent sites etc, but it amazes me that some supposedly reputable download sites would allow such things.
Good rule of thumb is to look for the smallest "Download" link on the page.
Won't be long before this rule of thumb goes out of the window.
They'll probably make a one by one pixel link that links to the clean download file.
Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows
#86The crapware situation on Windows is horrible. I'm a Mac/Linux user but from time to time I have to power up my Windows VM. A few days ago I wanted to install the Partition Magic trial on my Win XP VM. Having left Windows around 2005 I figured that typing "Partition Magic Win XP download" in Google would be helpful. I got a handful of "reputable" download sources like CNet and the like. I went there and was bombarded…
"A few days ago I wanted to install the Partition Magic trial on my Win XP VM" Windows XP is more than a decade old. The latest release, nearly five. To generalize about the current state of Windows based upon recent experience with Windows XP is either ignorant, disingenuous, or blindly biased.
The results of a google search are somewhat independent of OS. I've found exactly the same problem myself, when searching for Windows downloads in Mac OS X, and get similar spammy results in Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8.
Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
A lot of OS X apps are installed by dragging the app to /Applications, no installer involved, it may be one of the reasons.
Not familiar with the OSX installation procedure, but I assume that dragging the app into the folder runs some installer script? Are there perhaps restrictions on what can be done via these scripts that would require 2 distinct actions to install say a browser toolbar and application?
The cool thing about Mac applications is they are self contained. Very rarely do you see an actual installer. Uninstallation is usually just deleting the application from the Applications folder.
I wish other operating systems did it that way. It's very convenient.
Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ninite is great and has saved me time in the past. What exactly does this have to do with the article? Are you implying that since Y Combinator funded non-junk applications that it's okay to now fund junk applications?
I think he was saying it was kind of a humorous contrast with YC essentially funding companies that compete in a way. The nerdy conclusion of this discussion would lead to a battle of the two platforms, one trying to install spam-ware and the other trying to prevent it...
and both making MILLIONS! It's like some shadowy movie villian / arms dealer guy with a conspiracy to sell weapons to both sides!
Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows
#89The crapware situation on Windows is horrible. I'm a Mac/Linux user but from time to time I have to power up my Windows VM. A few days ago I wanted to install the Partition Magic trial on my Win XP VM. Having left Windows around 2005 I figured that typing "Partition Magic Win XP download" in Google would be helpful. I got a handful of "reputable" download sources like CNet and the like. I went there and was bombarded…
My experience recently was similar. A simple open source installer landed me a like of toolbars, preformance tools, and other assorted crapware. Incredibly obnoxious, and instantly removed any respect I had for the developer.
Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
Agreed, a lot of the reasons that non technical users dislike Windows seem to be the result of these. It really takes control out of the users hands. We can see the origins of this becoming a problem on Ubuntu with Canonical adding stuff like the Amazon search and seemingly having no issue with bundleware as a means of monetisation. On the other hand I'm surprised this isn't more of an issue on the Mac, since Mac (es…
IMO, some of it is due to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_windows_theory . One developer starts with an advert, somebody else has two, a third developer gets paid to sneak in some toolbar, the first notices "hey, I can make money that way, too", and the ball gets rolling. Now, the question is why this has not happened for Mac Software, at least not on that scale. Gruber (2004) claims it is due to zero tolerance (…
Interesting analogy, it's certainly true that there is some sense of "community" for both Linux and Mac users in that people will generally choose these platforms because they have certain beliefs about how things should work and won't tolerate things that fall outside of this.
Windows on the other hand has no community and is kind of an multi-cultural wasteland where everything goes thus will tolerate more BS.
Not sure I agree with Gruber's conclusion though, if Mac had a large uptake in market share then that community would become diluted.
As it stands the random Grandma that uses a Mac without understanding computers gets a sort of herd immunity because there is a larger percentage of more nerdy and vocal users who won't tolerate BS.
If grandmas become the overwhelming majority of Mac users they lose some of that because the crapware vendors know that grandma is very unlikely to read the blogposts condemning their software.