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App vendors discover a new way to abuse Windows

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tranglos:
As many bad things, it began with Chrome. I'm sure it's only natural for Google to think they can do whatever the heck they please with your computer, but things go from bad to worse when others begin to follow.

What's wrong with this picture?



Yep. Just like Chrome, Swift To-Do List from Dextronet now installs under <user>\AppData\Local instead of under Program Files. This is touted as a "feature" - namely that the app can be installed without admin rights. Things won't be pretty when more vendors start doing that!

I don't think we should have dropped the "complaints" forum :)

jpprater:
They're doing that to "make it easier" on customers who want to install their applications on computers where they don't have admin rights.  Which means the installation is per-user, not per machine.

Stoic Joker:
This is touted as a "feature" - namely that the app can be installed without admin rights. Things won't be pretty when more vendors start doing that!
I don't think we should have dropped the "complaints" forum
-tranglos (October 07, 2011, 09:38 AM)
--- End quote ---

I'll 2nd that on both counts. Users get locked out of Program Files for a reason...And it's a damn good one too.

Trying to skip around that is bound to end badly for everyone.

Renegade:
As many bad things, it began with Chrome. I'm sure it's only natural for Google to think they can do whatever the heck they please with your computer, but things go from bad to worse when others begin to follow.

What's wrong with this picture?
 (see attachment in previous post)
Yep. Just like Chrome, Swift To-Do List from Dextronet now installs under <user>\AppData\Local instead of under Program Files. This is touted as a "feature" - namely that the app can be installed without admin rights. Things won't be pretty when more vendors start doing that!

I don't think we should have dropped the "complaints" forum :)

-tranglos (October 07, 2011, 09:38 AM)
--- End quote ---

Hmmm... Dunno... I can see the point there.

I know Jiri, the fellow behind Dextronet, and I can't imagine any malicious intent there. He's a decent fellow.

vlastimil:
I have to disagree, it really is a good feature. If the program you are installing does not require admin rights, you can be sure, it won't install any adware, a virus or add an invisible service or firewall exception. And if it does, it will only affect one account and not the whole computer. Not requiring admin rights is a step towards portability.

I actually do not like the opposite. Recently, I have chosen not to install some applications, because they required admin rights and I was not sure they won't do more than just "installing themselves". In today's world of adware, one can never be sure.

Though, I agree that installing into %APPDATA% should not be the default behavior. All my apps can be installed without admin rights, but the default target is the good old "Program Files" folder and users must manually override it, if they want to instal to Documents or whatever. I consider this optimal.

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