[mv] WinEdit: salutory Windows tale

["Steve Fairhead" <steve@sfdesign.co.uk>]

******    message to minivend-users from "Steve Fairhead" <steve@sfdesign.co.uk>     ******

Hi,

Joachim said:
>>
OS = WIN95 and WIN98
-> Editor = WinEdit -> URL = www.winedit.com
(A fine editor for WINDOWS with Syntax-Highlighting and
<<

I downloaded the WinEdit demo, found that it kept dialling in via my
dial-on-demand firewall; worse, my browser now dialled in even when just
using my intranet. Monitoring the network traffic showed a lot of activity
to/from Aureate (http://www.aureate.com) - online advertising & data
collection. After uninstalling the software, rebooting, cleaning the
registry (losing all WinEdit and Aureate references - plenty of 'em),
deleting the (hidden) windows\amc folder, and deleting advert.dll and
amcis.dll from the windows\system folder, and rebooting once again, I
finally appear to be able to use my browser once again without checking in
with Aureate.

I found this buried deep in the legalese section of the WinEdit readme.txt:

>> This SOFTWARE PRODUCT is "advertiser supported software," meaning that
some or all of the costs associated with the development and distribution of
this SOFTWARE PRODUCT is recuperated through the use of advertisements
displayed in the software product.  These advertisements are delivered via
the Internet and will be downloaded from the servers of Aureate Media or
their subcontractors, partners, or other authorized parties.  By using this
software, you agree that you understand that this software will connect to
the Internet UBIQUITOUSLY to download advertisement and/or to provide
software updates.  You also accept responsibility for any network usage
costs or any other costs incurred by using this software. <<

"Ubiquitously", huh? And precisely what data flows _to_ Aureate, I wonder?
(Some of the registry sections had intriguing names, and the Aureate website
is, erm, interesting. See developers FAQ.)

You might want to consider whether or not to allow such software anywhere
near your system. I didn't enjoy it much, and only got to play with WinEdit
(which seemed fine) for about 3 minutes. All a bit scary, really. It was
just like a worm.

Steve

PS: I'm with Mike. Windows sucks. I'm suddenly even more determined to
become an MS-free zone.

------------------------------------------
Steve Fairhead - SFD - Solutions by Design
   www: http://www.sfdesign.co.uk
------------------------------------------


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