Interesting People mailing list archives
eot more on A tip for IP users Apple's "iTunes" mess
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 12:07:09 -0400
Begin forwarded message: From: Joe Touch <touch () ISI EDU> Date: September 11, 2005 12:02:17 PM EDT To: dave () farber net Subject: Re: [IP] more on A tip for IP users Apple's "iTunes" mess Dave, Restoring the system to a previous installation point is an existing capability of Windows XP systems, FWIW - it's called System Restore. GoBack does provide additional capabilities, but the caveat is that, at least according to the website below that describes the issues, it seems like Norton (of "Norton Symantic's GoBack") wouldn't be my choice to help solve a problem when Norton's antivirus software appears to be one of the systems that _creates_ it.See: http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?13@425.ikhWajf2Sbq.5@. 68b90c60/4
FWIW, it seems like it's an interaction between Bonjour (Apple's network autoconfiguration software) and antispyware/virusware, in particular Norton's. This also explains why the error isn't more pervasive - Bonjour isn't that widely used AFAICT. Google doesn't list any other sites reporting problems, e.g. I don't agree with Lauren that this is as big a problem either for Windows users or for Apple as he reported. Joe David Farber wrote:
Begin forwarded message: From: Marc <marcaniballi () hotmail com> Date: September 10, 2005 4:40:54 PM EDT To: dave () farber net Subject: RE: [IP] Apple's "iTunes" mess Dave; A tip for IP users, if you think appropriate. Back in the days of Windows NT Pro and all those lovely service pack "issues," I installed a little known utility called "Go Back" which allowed you to return to a previous "state" of your system. Say for example, having installed iTunes 5 and found your system completely bollocksed, you reboot, select the Go Back boot menu and tell it to revert to the system settings ofsay 1 hour ago. This not only reverts all file changes, but also reverts registry and other settings changes, while (generally) leaving data filesuntouched.For people concerned about questionable upgrades, or who try a lot of betasoftware (guilty!), it is an indispensable tool!I personally run an old version of Quicktime because I tried iTunes and hated its invasiveness - After installing it one day, I "Go Back'ed" and stuck with my original version. I'm sure one day it will no longer workwith "current" .mov files, but if the situation doesn't improve, I don't suspect there will be a lot of .mov files out there anyway.To summarise, Go Back (by Symantec, now) is a little utility well worththe $20 or so it costs!This is obviously only valuable to Windows platform users; I apologise fornot giving equal time to Mac users, but I'm sure there is a similar tool forMacs - then again, one can hope that iTunes (at least!) isn't a problem onOSX! Marc -----Original Message----- From: David Farber [mailto:dave () farber net] Sent: Saturday, September 10, 2005 4:19 PM To: Ip Ip Subject: [IP] Apple's "iTunes" mess Begin forwarded message: From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com> Date: September 10, 2005 2:28:07 PM EDT To: dave () farber net Cc: lauren () vortex com Subject: Apple's "iTunes" mess Dave, Users of Apple's iTunes and/or QuickTime on Windows might wish to take note: Maybe it's a plot to get Windows users to buy Macs (OK, just kidding), or maybe it's a Mac-centric QC department, but Apple is really taking it on the chin regarding their newly-released Windows version 5 iTunes. This is bundled with their new version 7 QuickTime -- in fact, this bundle has become the standard QuickTime download as well. Even more problems appear to have possibly resulted from the complicated DRM environment and the inclusion of a complex LAN-related utility in the release. A brief look at the discussions over at the Apple Forums: http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?14@787.O9RaaW1FRjC.0@.68a505a5 gives a taste of the frustration, not only by users who don't have working iTunes anymore, but also by many who now have broken QuickTime installations, and in some cases major OS problems as well. What's worse, rolling back can be difficult or impossible, and Apple's lack of official recognition or public response regarding these problems is driving many users up the wall. I've personally now seen two systems that have fallen into this black hole -- no working iTunes, no working QuickTime, and attempts to install older versions (even just of QuickTime) fail miserably, even after complex (and in some cases dangerous) attempts at cleaning out the leftover muck. It's really a mess -- reminds me of early DOS days. It's apparently a somewhat bizarre measure of Apple's success that people are so fired up over this situation, and of course the related impacts on their ability to feed materials into their expensive iPods and other devices. This obviously isn't a life and death situation. But for a company with such a finely tuned PR machine as Apple, it should be a reminder that basic issues are important -- like making sure that major software releases are properly tested, and at the very least can be easily and completely deinstalled if there's trouble. To fail these fundamental tests threatens the rapid loss of consumer good will that may have taken many years to establish. --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein lauren () pfir org or lauren () vortex com or lauren () eepi org Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 http://www.pfir.org/lauren Co-Founder, PFIR - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org Co-Founder, EEPI - Electronic Entertainment Policy Initiative - http://www.eepi.org Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as marcaniballi () hotmail com To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting- people/ ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as touch () isi edu To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ipArchives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting- people/
------------------------------------- You are subscribed as lists-ip () insecure org To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
Current thread:
- eot more on A tip for IP users Apple's "iTunes" mess David Farber (Sep 11)