An Open Letter To Microsoft From an Angry Firefox For Windows User

Dear Microsoft,

I’m upset with you, and you probably know why already. You’ve got guilty written all over your face. You’ve gone and done something you shouldn’t have done and it will affect people in ways they don’t want to be affected. If you’re going to play dumb, I’ll explain. Recently you offered an update to Windows .NET Framework, yet another of your scripting interfaces which allows hackers to gain easy access to all Windows machines, which installed an extension to Firefox which allows the safer browser to execute dangerous .NET scripts! (free registration required)

What the flippy!!??

Do you think that Apple believes they have the right to secretly install extensions into Firefox just because the software runs on their operating system? Hell no, they don’t, and neither do you. No amount of intellectual property rights allows you to do anything without the express, written consent of the user, and surreptitiously installing your .NET extension is a violation of every trust there is. It wasn’t enough for you to add the previously missing Disable and Uninstall buttons as all that did was indicate that you had removed them in the first place.

Sin, sin, sin! I fear that you will never get it, Microsoft. You aren’t Large and In Charge. You are a software vendor and dependant on the people who pay you for use of your software. If you continue to be a spousal abuser your spouse (read: your customers) will up and walk out on you. Its not like there’s no precedent for this already as former Windows users are ditching you for Apple on a pretty regular basis. So, the moral of this story is that if you don’t shape up, and soon, you’ll be losing more and more customers.

Get it together, Microsoft!

Sincerely,

Tyler Regas