Just received this email:

<<I downloaded Adobe from Goggle website and now I have Google plastered on my desktop. Can't get rid of it. What do I do? Appreciate if you can give my some help.>>

This is not so much interesting in technical terms (it's the Google Pack software bundle where you can quite easily uncheck software you don't like, and uninstalling later on should be easy for people who know Windows) but I found it illustrates well how sometimes these bundles do actually confuse novice* users. (Not to say that the software maker is to blame for everything that confuses users...)

*<<Google tries to make sure their tools are running everywhere. In around mid-2006, according to their internal numbers 60 Million Google Packs had been installed, but they still want to increase the deployment... especially for “novice users.”>>
http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2006-10-26-n80.html

The Google Pack system is pretty simple. The installer is simple and web based (although, granted it could be even simpler).

The Google Updater software is a bit unusual, normally when people uninstall software they uninstall it from "Add and Remove Programs" ("Programs and Features" on Vista). Although the interface to the program is simple the concept of using another program and not the OS to install and uninstall programs is different.

With the email you quoted above Phillip, did the person inadvertently install Google Desktop?

Martin

> did the person inadvertently install Google Desktop

At least that's what I made of this, though he hasn't followed-up with me yet...