[Answered] RCI - Updater window

Two small (intended to be constructive) complaints about the new Update' window:

1. Why did you separate it to a separate window?

I prefer it to just display the details inside the frame the way it used to. Twice, in the just the first few minutes of using it, the Update' window got hidden behind the main Spybot window.

At a minimum, it should be an 'Always on top' window, but again - I'd highly prefer that it not be separate.

2. If I click on the the 'Update' icon in the left frame, as opposed to clicking the 'Search for Updates' button in the detail frame on the left when Spybot is first opened, before you mouse-over the 'Search' button, it looks like it extends all the way to the right... this is confusing, albeit very minor.

Again, many thanks for Spybot! Look forward to the release of the new version!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tanstaafl

1. Why did you separate it to a separate window?

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Just gonna jump in on this one... It's actually a seperate program, which is likely why its in a seperate window.

One of the reasons [I'm assuming] is that the updater then doesnt cause the main spybot program to crash if it has difficulties in connecting / running / etc., as I know myself speaking from experience in the past, the updater caused spybot to freeze up on many machines in the past.

I'm guessing that is why the reason is but dont hold me to it lol :)

Regards
Nath

The main reason for the updater being a separate program is that the updater always needs admin or power user rights, since it replaces files in the C:\Program Files... path.

On Windows Vista, such programs need to "elevate", requesting permission from the user to run. Always requesting this elevation is not good behaviour for the "main application" of a software (if every application asks for this elevation, even more user will switch off UAC), so all tasks that forcily need admin rights should be separate.

(Microsoft even expects this separation from software that wants to get Certified for Vista, for example.)

A second reason is that a stand-alone updater is easier to automate - you can set the Windows Task Scheduler to auto-update whenever you want. Sure, you could already have done this with the main app, but the main app uses more memory, has a bigger window etc..

Oh, and a stand-alone updater is a bit easier to integrate into Windows Security Center. Just would look at bit silly if you tell WSC to update your anti-malware software, and the main Spybot window pops up (even if it is updating there).

Regarding "always on top": there are some standard design guidelines which windows should be allowed this flag, and I don't think an updater is what people would expect to always stay on top ;)

lol I forgot about the "vista" side of things... nice one! :)

Nath.