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- #NEXT MACBOOK SOFTWARE UPDATE FOR MAC#
- #NEXT MACBOOK SOFTWARE UPDATE INSTALL#
- #NEXT MACBOOK SOFTWARE UPDATE UPDATE#
Staying on top of software updates and fixes is great, but not when it involves trampling users' control over what runs on their own computers. Google's updater can only be removed by deleting all Google software from a machine-this is not only bad design, but it is wrong.
#NEXT MACBOOK SOFTWARE UPDATE UPDATE#
The debate over whether automatic updates in general are harmless or invasive is still alive and well, but the fact that Google got its totalitarianism on with One Software Update to Rule Them All puts this instance a little over the top. The process for disabling or removing Google's software updater is also reportedly the same, but that doesn't make the company's practices okay. Truth be told, we hear that Google has been doing this for quite some time with all of its software on Windows. By installing the Software, you agree to automatically request and receive Updates. The Software may communicate with Google servers from time to time to check for available updates to the Software, such as bug fixes, patches, enhanced functions, missing plug-ins and new versions (collectively, "Updates"). Even the portion of the EULA that deals with automatic updates is vague about what actually gets installed: Translation: Google is content to bury the notification of installing a background software update process in its EULA, as none of Google's Mac software that we tested present a notification on first run, not to mention an actual option to toggle it off. "A user can always uninstall the updater by uninstalling all applications that the updater supports (we want to make sure you continue to receive updates for all other applications on your computer, even if you've decided to stop using one piece of software)." Advertisement "Users are notified when the Software Updater is installed - this varies from product to product, but it can always be found in the EULA or TOS for a product," the rep responded. After all, much more reasonable mechanisms such as the "check at startup" trick became all but a universally-recognized standard long ago, but there is also always the option of presenting the feature front and center in the short wizard that appears on Picasa's first run. We asked a Google representative why the company took such a quietly invasive approach to updating its software. If you delete the /Google directory or the /LaunchAgents item, they are reinstalled the next time Picasa is run-and that's only the half of it. The only directory in /Google is called GoogleSoftwareUpdate, which we have a sneaking suspicion may contain the files that run Google's stealthy software updater.
#NEXT MACBOOK SOFTWARE UPDATE INSTALL#
As it turns out, when you install Picasa for Mac, an item is installed in ~/Library/LaunchAgents, and a new Google directory is created in ~/Library (other Google Mac products do this, and so do Google apps on Windows and, presumably, Linux). We spoke with a Google representative and posted a question in Picasa's discussion forum about this software updater.
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Annoyed, we started digging to find out why Google took over our Mac. A couple of days later, a Google software updater that we never explicitly agreed to install notified us of an update to Picasa.
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#NEXT MACBOOK SOFTWARE UPDATE FOR MAC#
We gave Google's first version of Picasa for Mac a whirl the day before Apple announced iLife '09 with features like Faces and Places for iPhoto.