Warning rant: Programs that set search-provider and default homepage

Seriously! It was frowned upon in the 90s, and major software providers are still doing it?

I recently had to reinstall my system since my Visual Studio likes conflicting with itself.

It seems like I’m re-installing Windows every 2-3 months with this rate. (alright, it’s measured on a 3 installations basis, out of which one was due to a complete hardware failure, and I would probably re-install Linux more often since I like fooling around with the Kernel)

All this re-installation of machines has given me the unique opportunity to experience all the different installations that end with a default checkbox marked with “Set my default homepage”, “Set my search-provider”.

Now I can imagine that somewhere out there, someone might think there is a purpose with the search-provider if their application uses the default search-provider of the system. None of the programs I have are doing that, but still there might be a potential justification.

But for gods sake! about:blank is more useful as a start page than MSN! (because it loads faster…) If I forget to uncheck one of those checkboxes, I have to reconfigure my browser!

Do the world a favor and stop focusing on your portal pages, they do not help anyone, nor are they good marketing. If you want me to click or react to banners don’t make me angry by messing around with my settings. User settings are user settings, do not intrude!