If you have downloaded Directory Opus from CNet / Download.com, or if you are a software developer whose work may be hosted there, please see this thread in the announcements forum:
[ul][li]Warning about CNet / Download.com bundled installers[/li][/ul]
(I'll un-sticky this in a few days; just posting it in Help & Support to spread the word.)
Wasn't it download.com that promised not to bundle any malware in their downloads several years ago? From my understanding they were going to repackage everything from scratch and start uploading "clean" installers instead....
...or am I getting it mixed up with a similar site?
I read elsewhere today that CNET is in the process of changing it's policy somewhat
download.com always promised clean downloads (no malware/spyware or any other bloats in software programs). But I guess, they need more moolah to provide the service and are going in the opposite direction.
What a silly idea to ruin such a long, and clean history with adware-infected installers...
I know the pay-per-install industry, the pay rates for US toolbar installs are usually in the $.5-$1.x range, and when you look at how many downloads their site gets, they must have banked quite nicely since they started dealing custom installers. But I doubt it will last for long; they'll lose the developers, and many users who will read about it or get annoyed by their new adwares' features. 
I remember I tried to download a couple of files from them in the last year or so, but instead of the original software packages, I was being offered some weird installers. I stopped visiting the site, of course, but I never really thought they'd try to cheat their users and developers this way. Ah, well... their loss. And yours, too, in a way... many people discover new software by browsing their category lists, or they discover them via search engine, download.com ranks quite nice on SE's.
To sum it up, yes, you should definitely add at least 4 different toolbars into DOpus setup, I'm sure everyone agrees with that. You're not a real man till your browser looks like this:
Hey... how did you get on my mom's computer?
Hey... how did you get on my mom's computer?[/quote]
The trojan she got from download.com helped a lot, it was easy to get inside once she installed it. 
What a bunch of ****ers, and that was a reliable source... anyway some of us just download software from the official developer's website.
Yeah, I noticed junk bundled with Paragon Backup & Recovery 2011 (Advanced) Free.
It is a great free app, but since being hosted at CNET, it is bundled with junk.
The file that you actually download from CNET is a small download tool that you need to execute. It then downloads Paragon, along with other junk.
I don't understand why people don't download files from the origin source. Sure, these download-sites often let you find tools you searched for or didn't know about, but how many apps do you try/install that there's no time to dl them from source?
Also I hate these "download-buttons" which are not download-buttons for what I am seeking (speaking of German sites). And if you find the right, "hidden" link, you have to walk through a bunch of sub-sites - do they all think I am an idiot (yes, they do, f... off)?
Picture of IE above is crazy and the only thing that makes me happy is people paying me for cleaning up/repairing such installations!
But AFAIK developers' copyright notes often include that w/o their permissions a modification is not allowed. What's about that?
Attitude of an average internet user:
And yeah, finding the developer website is 'hard work' for many people. 
[quote="Sasa"]
Picture of IE above is crazy.[/quote]
And not that rare... I regularly remove toolbars from my friends' and family members' computers.
No matter how many times I tell them to dismiss and requests to install toolbars, I always see at least 2-3 malicious or just useless toolbars at each PC I get my hands on.
Might also be a byproduct of careless rushing through installation procedures, many software developers use pay-per-install programs as an additional revenue source... winamp, ccleaner, gomplayer, bsplayer... so many popular apps today come bundled with useless junk.
This is true, now my fav K-Lite Codec Pack also offers junk at the end of its installation, but it's not included into setup.
Well, in my case above, the reason is this.
"Paragon Backup & Recovery 2011 (Advanced) Free" is only available for download via these 2 sites.
But I grabbed the real Paragon installer from my temp folder once the CNET downloader had finished.
It's ok to include some "advertising" when software you have to pay for is for free then. But not when it is just a download-place (if they can't earn money other way they should close!). These "addons" always are really absoluteley useless and nobody really knows which data they collect/send.
Thinking about going into a supermarket and have to buy things I don't need but have to because they offer bananas I want to eat!