Automatically Added Start Menu / Desktop Icons

I have just allowed Adobe (Acrobat) Reader to update itself, fair enough, though it is still remarkably slow to load on first use.

I keep a clean desktop, with shortcuts only for the things I use on a regular basis (at least daily).
I keep my Start Menu under control (am still using XP).

I think I might have computer-specific OCD, but that’s not my point.

My point is that Adobe have decided to re-add a shortcut to a programme which is never run directly.
If I ever have to use Adobe Reader, it’s to read a file, so it’s a (link to a) file that I open.

The updater also added a shortcut to my Start Menu, despite the fact that there’s one there already, in a folder I created.
This in turn caused Windows to inform me that a new programme had been installed.

Are they trying to get me to use the programme more often? If so, why? It’s a free programme anyway!


Comments

One response to “Automatically Added Start Menu / Desktop Icons”

  1. I think Adobe and the others want to maximize share-of-mind, and the best proxy for that is share-of-desktop. If you see their shortcut on your desktop every day, you’ll also be thinking about them.

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