There was quite an uproar over Apple’s opt-out push of Safari via its updater to Windows users. A lot of the rethoric was over the top, including comparisons to spyware. A few folks, such as Bijan, disagreed and argued that it’s not a big deal. I feel the same way, but what a missed opportunity! It would have been so easy to do the right thing. Have Safari show up below a big line and heading of NEW SOFTWARE and make it opt-in. Yes, there would have been a lot fewer installs but those would have all been people who really wanted Safari and might actually wind up using it. Apple could repeat that with every update and gradually build a base. By tweaking the message a bit each time, they could have even learned what gets people to download and install a new browser.
