Mac developers with Windows attitudes

We all know by now that Mac users usually run as non-admins on their machines and what a good thing this is. Apps generally ask for admin credentials during install to get their setup done. Great stuff. I have just one (ok, maybe two) apps that don’t handle this right and these have to be installed under an admin account. So I have to copy the installer to /Users/Shared, switch to the admin user, install the app, switch back. A hassle, albeit a small one.

Anyway, I wrote an email to one of the vendors about this, and asked them to change this, see things the Apple Way and do right. This is the reply I got:

“Thanks for your feedback. This is a limitation of the installer software we use. The only alternative we have at present is to force every user to enter their admin password to install, and that seems an unacceptable compromise. We’re sorry for any inconvenience.”

Oh, man… that sounds just like a Windows developer to me. But these guys are Mac developers to the core! How can this be? What is the world coming to?

My reply, if you care:

“No, forcing every user to enter admin password is the exact RIGHT solution. That is what all other Mac software does. Don’t be Windows weenies; those are the ones who can’t handle “limited user accounts”, and see what happens then.

Believe me, you really should ask for admin credentials during install. Please, be a man (or woman) and do the right thing. Fix the install.”

Will they listen? I doubt it. Humanity gets what it deserves. Or deserves what it gets. Whatever.

I’ll go cry in my pillow now.

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