Phil Wainewright discusses the dilemma of anti-pop-up tools such as the Google toolbar and Windows XP SP2: sure, they block ads from (currently in bankruptcy) X10, but they also inhibit rich Web-browser applications:
Popular outrage at the Internet pollution created by X10, Orbitz and the like demanded action to stop pop-ups. But no one stopped to make the distinction between the pop-up ads that people don't want and the pop-up windows that are so much a part of everyday Internet experience that everyone takes them for granted (until they install SP2, that is). No one in Microsoft's development team is going to lose any sleep over lost browser functionality, anyway, because Microsoft, as already mentioned, doesn't do browser-based apps (when it needs to connect network resources into the desktop, it much prefers plugging them into Office). ...Back to Compendium
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