I wound up installing or updating the JRE on about 5 machines this week, and every time I got to click the checkbox to tell it I didn't want the Ask toolbar.  It's been like 16 years, guys, when are you going to learn that you can attach text to a checkbox so that clicking on it counts as clicking on the checkbox?  I guess they don't want to make it easy for me to unclick.

 ...and when will people learn that nobody uses ask.com any more either. I wish I had a statistic, but I'll hazard a guess that 90% of browser toolbars are installed unintentionally.

And how in the hell did Ask get such a sweet deal? Everyone except Somebody's Little Old Grandma uses Java (not everyone LIKES it) - maybe they're paying Java millions of dollars in a desperate attempt to gain market share? And apparently it's failing, since nobody except Somebody's Little Old Grandma uses Ask... makes you wonder who is funding this campaign, anyway... did Oracle buy out Ask sometime when I wasn't paying attention?

ekolis:

And how in the hell did Ask get such a sweet deal?

Maybe every other toolbar out there has too much dignity to want their brand be associated with Java.

Yes, including the porn ones.

FrostCat:

I wound up installing or updating the JRE on about 5 machines this week, and every time I got to click the checkbox to tell it I didn't want the Ask toolbar.  It's been like 16 years, guys, when are you going to learn that you can attach text to a checkbox so that clicking on it counts as clicking on the checkbox?  I guess they don't want to make it easy for me to unclick.

If you do a silent install, you don't get the toolbar. Simplest way for current JRE installers is to create a shortcut to the installer executable, then edit the shortcut properties and add /s to the end of the embedded command line.

Oh BTW, I just got this yesterday because apparently the IT people at my work when they re-imaged my computer put on the Java auto-updater.

Even worse than the Ask toolbar thing:

1) It pops up a UAC dialog with literally ZERO warning-- frankly it scared the shit out of me because I was listening to soft classical on my headphones and I didn't expect the UAC "bloop" at all

2) While going through the installer process, it steals focus about 4 times. STEALS FOCUS. This is 2012. And it STEALS FOCUS. Jesus fuck.

There's about 3 applications keeping Java on most computers: LogMeIn, WebEx, Minecraft. Can we work on getting those companies to figure it the fuck out? (Especially Minecraft, since its already ported to fucking XNA-- it runs on Xbox!) Once those are gone, we'll be in our well-deserved Java-free paradise.

blakeyrat:

(Especially Minecraft, since its already ported to fucking XNA-- it runs on Xbox!

 

If someone ports it to C++ it might see anywhere between a 50 and 100% performance bonus, and still run on all three major plaforms. Its java-ness is one of those typical pieces of fundamental cruft that'll never go away.

But modding it would be hella harder.