So this is mainly a place for me to put links and text to use when I’m on site, so I don’t have to search all over for the info.

This first post is just an observation and I don’t think there will be many more of these, but it has to do with a PC I was setting up a few weeks ago, it needed a reinstall of XP Pro and then I installed Java for a website the client needed access to.  I hadn’t installed Java in a while and I was surprised to see that they now try to get you to install OpenOffice when installing the Java plugin.  It’s bad enough how many programs try to force the Google Toolbar or Desktop down your throat – Adobe is the first that comes to mind – and there’s Quickbooks(couldn’t they come up with something more integrated & less third party).  But now to actually try installing a 4th rate application suite when you’re just looking for the plugin is crazy.  I had actually wondered why I had seen OpenOffice installed on a few different clients machines  lately – owned by people that have no idea what an Office Suite would be – which is the same reason they installed it in the first place – they just clicked Next thinking it’s what they needed.

I know it comes down to the bottom line ($), but why not just give us your products without installing a third party apps – and I know Sun is a major force behind OpenOffice, but I still see it as third party when they try to install something that has nothing to do with the plugin you need for another site.

Hope that all made sense – really just a rant to test.

Thanks.