Ew! Hell no. When did Microsoft get into the crapware bundling business.
G+: Ew
Why do they need a Bing Bar? Don't they make the browser? Or is this a bar for other browsers?
It's a toolbar for IE7 and above, much like the Google toolbar. Looks like similar functionality to what you can get from some Chrome or Firefox extensions. http://toolbar.discoverbing.com/
I notice Bing is now effectively paying you to use their service... http://www.discoverbing.com/rewards
I notice Bing is now effectively paying you to use their service... http://www.discoverbing.com/rewards
Java installs Ask toolbars, and now Direct X installs Bing Bars? sigh
I'll fly to Seattle if I find the Bing bar installed on any of my build servers.
I'll fly to Seattle if I find the Bing bar installed on any of my build servers.
I just find that this kind of bundling with legitimate system software, only cheapens the feeling of computing. It makes me think that one day I'm going to turn on my computer and be forced to sit through 30 second Coke commercials every five minutes.
This is partly why I switched to Linux. It isn't Microsoft's fault (outside of this particular DirectX example) that they have a crapware-based ecosystem, but the fact is, they do. On Linux, because almost all of my software is delivered from the open source community (whether it is made by commercial organisations or not), I don't get any of that crap. A good example is Java, which advertises Oracle products if you install it on Windows, but is silent on Linux.
I don't mind advertising on the web, because that's me reaching out to other servers for content, akin to watching public television. But I don't want this crap installed on my computer.
I don't mind advertising on the web, because that's me reaching out to other servers for content, akin to watching public television. But I don't want this crap installed on my computer.
Kind of. I think there's a pretty subtle distinction, though, between "you're using our product X, perhaps try our product Y to complement it," and "you're using our product X, try our product Y which is unrelated."
To highlight the distinction: I have no problem with Microsoft making Bing the default search engine in Internet Explorer. It's their browser, their search engine, their prerogative. Even if they included a Bing toolbar in IE by default, that is also their prerogative. But bundling a Bing toolbar with DirectX seems wrong, because Bing in no way enhances the experience of DirectX. The two products are completely unrelated. That and, as you point out, DirectX is required for games so it's dodgy to capitalise on it.
To highlight the distinction: I have no problem with Microsoft making Bing the default search engine in Internet Explorer. It's their browser, their search engine, their prerogative. Even if they included a Bing toolbar in IE by default, that is also their prerogative. But bundling a Bing toolbar with DirectX seems wrong, because Bing in no way enhances the experience of DirectX. The two products are completely unrelated. That and, as you point out, DirectX is required for games so it's dodgy to capitalise on it.
That reminds me a little bit of this Dilbert cartoon: http://www.dilbert.com/fast/2012-04-05/
Most (or just 'many'?) people will just click "yes" if they're offered something that is a perceived bonus.
On one visit to help my uncle with his computer last year, I was horrified to find about half a dozen of these so called add-on bars in his browser. The top 3rd of the screen was filled with useless junk, and it was so painful I found it difficult to navigate websites (to solve some other problems he was having) with so much of the screen realestate unusable. I also found that all these bars were the cause of IE taking so long to startup and load websites - things got much better once I'd disabled them.
Most (or just 'many'?) people will just click "yes" if they're offered something that is a perceived bonus.
On one visit to help my uncle with his computer last year, I was horrified to find about half a dozen of these so called add-on bars in his browser. The top 3rd of the screen was filled with useless junk, and it was so painful I found it difficult to navigate websites (to solve some other problems he was having) with so much of the screen realestate unusable. I also found that all these bars were the cause of IE taking so long to startup and load websites - things got much better once I'd disabled them.
I think that's what annoys me the most - much like when I install Java, it's not usually because I want Java, but because it's a dependency of some other software. Bing is completely unrelated to DirectX - it's not adding any value - it just seems to be exploiting the fact that I have to install this component (the option is checked by default).