I just logged into the MSN messenger, and it prompted me to install a newer version. Like a dutiful tech. slave, I accepted the invitation and was soon on my way to installing the latest and greatest MS has on offer by way of messengers. After the install was complete, lo and behold, I see a dialog box asking me to set my particular brand of English. I was half-ready to leave English (United States) selected and move on, when out of interest, I opened the drop down and discovered English (India)! Apparently, Microsoft's finally woken up to the existance of this billion strong demographic.

My adventures didn't end here though. Upon clicking next, an internet explorer window popped up with a brand new MSN toolbar installed. The point to be noted here is that I'd never asked for anything other than the latest version of the messenger to be installed. How the search toolbar ties into the messenger is totally beyond me. What's worse is that the new MSN toolbar looks exactly like the Google toolbar that now sits above it. Looks like MS have pulled off another embrace and extend. Not that I use internet explorer at home these days, but this does peeve me. What gives Microsoft the right to slip this unwanted product into my life anyway??

This leads me to a larger problem. Too often, providers of free (or seemingly free) services seem to go too far. I mean, i can understand the advertising, the popup news widgets, and even the occasional promotional IM or mail message, but installing a whole new product on MY COMPUTER without MY permission is going too far. Providers seem to think that because they provide a free service, consumers should pony up and just take whatever they might throw at us without any sort of protest. I daresay that that is a view shared by some of the consumers too. I tend to think that a consumer's rights must have nothing to do with a product/service's pricing, free or otherwise.