I was drinking a coffee (Venti Flat White from Starbucks if you must know) when I read this story on the BBC which describes the Samsung application that blocks Windows Updates from installing. Samsung came out with a statement that made me almost spit out my coffee:
Samsung said it was just giving customers the choice about running Windows software.
“It is not true that we are blocking a Windows 8.1 operating system update on our computers,” Samsung said in a statement.
“As part of our commitment to consumer satisfaction, we are providing our users with the option to choose if and when they want to update the Windows software on their products.”
According to Samsung, the SW update allows users “to download the newest drives, updates and software for your Windows PC”.
This baffled the guy who found this application, Patrick Barker:
“I never implied it specifically blocked a Windows 8.1 OS system update, just that their SW Update software is preventing Windows Update from automatically installing updates, and forcing the user to have it set to ‘let me choose whether to download and install,'” he wrote in his blog.
“It’s disabling Windows Update from working as the user intends it to,” he added.
And to top it all off, Microsoft is now involved:
Microsoft said: “Windows Update remains a critical component of our security commitment to our customers.”
“We do not recommend disabling or modifying Windows Update in any way as this could expose a customer to increased security risks.
“We are in contact with Samsung to address this issue.”
The last sentence I think is code for “We’re calling Samsung and they are about to get slapped silly.”
My thoughts on this are simple. Samsung isn’t giving users a choice. They are simply trying to control the user experience in a way that compromises users. That’s a #fail and Samsung needs to own up to the fact that they did something really, really dumb and fix it. And the longer it takes them to do that, the more negative press this issue will generate, Sadly, Samsung doesn’t seem to get it and their inability to get it is baffling and surprising at the same time.
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This entry was posted on June 25, 2015 at 1:51 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Samsung. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Samsung Response To Them Blocking Windows Updates Makes No Sense
I was drinking a coffee (Venti Flat White from Starbucks if you must know) when I read this story on the BBC which describes the Samsung application that blocks Windows Updates from installing. Samsung came out with a statement that made me almost spit out my coffee:
Samsung said it was just giving customers the choice about running Windows software.
“It is not true that we are blocking a Windows 8.1 operating system update on our computers,” Samsung said in a statement.
“As part of our commitment to consumer satisfaction, we are providing our users with the option to choose if and when they want to update the Windows software on their products.”
According to Samsung, the SW update allows users “to download the newest drives, updates and software for your Windows PC”.
This baffled the guy who found this application, Patrick Barker:
“I never implied it specifically blocked a Windows 8.1 OS system update, just that their SW Update software is preventing Windows Update from automatically installing updates, and forcing the user to have it set to ‘let me choose whether to download and install,'” he wrote in his blog.
“It’s disabling Windows Update from working as the user intends it to,” he added.
And to top it all off, Microsoft is now involved:
Microsoft said: “Windows Update remains a critical component of our security commitment to our customers.”
“We do not recommend disabling or modifying Windows Update in any way as this could expose a customer to increased security risks.
“We are in contact with Samsung to address this issue.”
The last sentence I think is code for “We’re calling Samsung and they are about to get slapped silly.”
My thoughts on this are simple. Samsung isn’t giving users a choice. They are simply trying to control the user experience in a way that compromises users. That’s a #fail and Samsung needs to own up to the fact that they did something really, really dumb and fix it. And the longer it takes them to do that, the more negative press this issue will generate, Sadly, Samsung doesn’t seem to get it and their inability to get it is baffling and surprising at the same time.
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This entry was posted on June 25, 2015 at 1:51 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Samsung. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.