Pushy, annoying software
Teresa and I have noticed several times in the past few weeks that Google has been ridiculously pushy trying to get us to install Google Drive on my computer. But no matter how many times I dismiss the notification to download it, it keeps coming back, even popping up during movies and there's no way to turn off the notifications (not even in Window's 'Notifications & actions' settings where you would expect to be able to). It's been a running joke between us every time we see this notification, and at this point we figured that they would force people to install it eventually by bundling it with something else, but no it's actually much worse — it automatically installed itself on my computer without my consent!
I just restarted my computer after an update and I noticed a prompt to login to the software, so I checked and low and behold it's there in my programs list, having been installed yesterday. I am kind of confused because that was at least the one thing I had essentially complete control over (installation of software) but now I'm not even sure about that any more. 🙈
I've stuck with Windows because of software compatibility and classically I've been a PC gamer, but maybe it's time to make the switch to a different OS, at least for day to day work...
Update: 30 minutes after uninstalling it, we get another prompt.
Notice this design: You can only 'Learn more' or INSTALL. There is no 'dismiss' or 'never remind me again', just a tiny little X in the corner, which only temporarily hides the notification. If history is any guide, it'll be back many, many more times...
Even more malicious is the fact that the popup was designed independent of the Windows notification popups specifically to avoid the restrictions of those popups based on user settings. So for example, while every other notification on my computer remains silent and in the background while I'm watching a movie, this one does not.
The people at Google who thought this was smart ought to read up on software courtesy. If you want someone to install something so badly, all you have to do is make a convincing case for it — there's no need to be pushy or annoying about it. Always leave users the option to permanently dismiss notifications.