A compelling and telling blog post from Stabley Times about “Crapware” on the PC platform and the lack of it on the Apple platform. He makes a compelling argument that Macs are worth the extra money upfront, so you do not have to be subjected to unwanted applications at every turn.
The article also reports that the new Java update from Oracle tries to install the Ask.com search bar and make Ask.com your default search engine with a pre-checked box.
The only other “Crapware” ploy I have ever see on my Mac comes from a Microsoft-based application, Flip4Mac. When you download and install Flip4Mac, it tries to trick you into buying the pro version and comes bundled with Silverlight, which most users do not need.
I do find it interesting and funny that his blog has big ads within the blog posts and one of the ads in rotation is MacKeeper, the one and only application in the Apple universe that has the “Crapware” reputation.
Source: “Why Windows Crapware Still Exists; Or Why You Should Just Buy a Mac” – Stabley Times.
Right after posting this, I was installing Adobe Flash 11 on a Mac and on the download page, there was a pre-checked box to download Google Chrome and make it my default browser. Looks like it is the latest trend. Be careful out there!