I’ve done my best to defend Microsoft in the past (and will continue to do so in the future when their actions warrant community support). However, it’s practices like these which make my blood boil.

I wake up to this IM from my father:

• @9:09: Chris are you there??? POP
• @9:10: When I started the pc there was a message to update MESSENGER.
• @9:11: I did and it changed a lot of the settings on the pc including the home page
• @9:11: Most importantly it changed my email from outlook to MSN which I did not want to do and answered question to that and it still changed.
• @9:11: I want every thing back as it was
• @9:11: Please call me on our home phone

Who at Microsoft do I bill for the time I’m about to spend on the phone with my father over this particular issue? My father believes he checked the right boxes, but… obviously, he didn’t. Is that his fault… or the fault of the software installer that did things it didn’t really need to do?

I’m looking at EVERY software vendor out there, not just Microsoft. Leave our defaults alone, or run the risk of losing your community support.