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Seems with the new toolbar going from beta to final they decided to push it onto all desktops.
Don't do this Google! Huge no-no! Can't you see all the flak Microsoft is taking for their automatic system update proposal? Don't touch my system without a warning and the ability to opt-out!
I was so surprised a company like Google would do an action like that. Very un-Google like.
I liked the old toolbar and I don't need any features in the new one. The old toolbar had a more compact layout since the search web button was integrated.
Now I have to rip out the v2 and reinstall the old one while blocking the auto-update.
What a crazy thread. You opt-in to auto-updating when you install the toolbar. Sheesh.
I know this may sound crazy, but most of the times, most of us simply click yes for downloading tools/softwares without reading in depth. But it certainly is more helpful if the auto-update process takes place after a small confirmation before downloading the new version.
Of course, since we opted-in, Google has every right to auto-download, but as I mentioned a little "There is a new upgrade available, do you want to download and install it" certainly goes a long way.
I was shocked when I noticed the new one. In fact, I prefer the version before this one, because it has a bigger area assigned for using the "backward links", "cached snapshot", etc [The blue i (exclamation)]
steveb, I'm not sure where you are coming from on this. It is a common courtesy, if nothing else, to let a person know they are slamming something new on your system.
I have different computers for different tasks. If Microsoft slammed the latest browser on me every time they had a new revision, I wouldn't have different versions to test my sites on. [What Microsoft DOES do, is give me periodic messages saying that this or that is available, and its my option to download it].
As toddski07 said, its good to wait to hear from the others to see if there are any problems or conflicts first. [My experience has been, "pioneers are the ones with the arrows in their backs," and lord knows I still have the holes to prove it].
While many users won't be concerned, the rest of us like to maintain a certain amount of control over the machines that make us our living, regardless of whether it is opt-in or not.
<added> Hence my point:
[webmasterworld.com...]
[webmasterworld.com...]
</added>
Happy to say after 24+ hours my block is working fine on several machines and the 1.1.70 version is still purring away.
Fortunately the terms also don't say I cannot run an old version. Since I didn't tamper with the program itself directly, I cannot be violating the agreement.
1.1.70 version is still purring away
If you are using the toolbar for 6 months or more, you most likely never installed version 1.1.70 (until yesterday) but an older version that was later automatically updated to the 1.1.70 version.
March 5: 1.1.70 [webmasterworld.com]
Feb. 28: 1.1.69 [webmasterworld.com]
Feb. 6: 1.1.68 [webmasterworld.com]
It would be nice if they informed the user of the dynamic updates somewhere.Toolbar updated? [webmasterworld.com] Apr 5, 2001
It's scary because I was never asked if I wanted this upgrade or not.Google toolbar self updated to 1.1.57-deleon [webmasterworld.com] June 22, 2002
It updates itself without asking me!Google Fixes Security Flaws in Search Toolbar [webmasterworld.com] Aug 9, 2002
Blocking a Toolbar Update [webmasterworld.com]
Toolbar automatic upgrade? I am still at 1.1.63 [webmasterworld.com].
Fortunately I had saved the full executable version of 1.1.70 back in March, so ripping out the v2 version and going back to v1 was fairly easy.
Problem solved. Didn't know there was a previous discussion on self-updates, not something I normally look for (and it didn't turn up in a casual search here). Again, just a very surprising behavior compared to typical Google thinking.
Anyway, the next step has big red text; "PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY IT'S NOT THE USUAL YADA YADA". At that point, it seems reasonable to consider the consequences of sending URLs to Google, and of "other features that update automatically".
It would be nice if the Toolbar had an auto-updating option for for people who install without 'advanced features', but for those of us who do use the PageRank graph I can why Google mightn't want us to have the option of querying their servers with old Toolbar versions.
I'm pretty sure G does not want to take over my machine or purge the content of my disk, i'm also pretty sure they won't be lauching popups on the fly or replacing ads on non-AS sites with adsense ads. Not completely sure, but pretty sure. So they're probably not the black sheep of the family, that is. But they do have the same reason for it - it's in their interest to be in control, and it's also good in the case where bugs are just corrected without alarming or even notifying users - good for PR that is; users never will (need to) find out about bugs.
Still, it's an issue of "who controls my machine?" - i'd personally like it to be me.
/claus
