As you mentioned yourself, your friends installed the sponsor program
accidentally. It happens a lot that people install it accidentally. However, that is not our fault; we cannot be responsible for you not reading
Please note that it is very easy to uninstall it, if you happen to have installed it accidentally:
How to uninstall ad-ware/sponsor explains it all
quote:
Originally posted by zildjian
http://www.neilturner.me.uk/2003/Jun/03/messenger_plus_dont_bother.html
Unfortunately, that page contains errors, starting with "the latest MSN Messenger Plus! has spyware" - the sponsor is not spyware, but adware.
I've seen the page before, but I never replied, because it's over a year old, and I had hoped it would not be considered accurate anymore.
quote:
Originally posted by zildjian
It has really put me off..
Too bad; Plus! is a great program and I hope I can convince you otherwise
For starters, the sponsor program is a package from LOP.com - and although many people know LOP.com as an agressive 'spyware' company, the package that comes bundled with Messenger Plus! is nothing like that. Basically, the main things it does is showing some ads from time to time and adding a search bar in Internet Explorer, some favourites and desktop shortcuts. All this is mentioned in the license agreement.
The sponsor program has been added to let Patchou (the creator of the program) continue to work at Messenger Plus! daily; he has no full time job, but spends almost all his time programming Messenger Plus!. He thought this was the best way to keep the program freeware and still make a living.
Personally, I wouldn't know what is keeping you from trying it yourself. You obviously know that there is a sponsor program, so you know to read carefully during installation - although, honestly, this warning should not be needed and people should always read what they're installing
If you choose not to install the sponsor program, nothing else than Messenger Plus! will be installed. Try it yourself; Plus! has been installed over 6 million times, if we believe the statistics - join the club of Plus! users
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