do you trust cnet? or their programs?

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i just know it is fake but hope springs eternal

late night tv keeps having ads (pcmatic, pcpitstop, many others)
that make fantastic claims which are very hard to beleive

but they claim to be top rated with cnet and a bunch of other sites that rate their type of software

keep me from making a mistake
tell me that cnet is not trustworthy and these other endorsements are fake

i vaguely remember cnet being useful many years ago
but in recent times i have been leery of downloading from them

what happened over the years
and are they shilling for scumware
or just not ensuring that valid reviews get posted

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I find CNET useful in some ways but as with everything that counts on advertising, you have to take it with a grain of salt.
I find a lot of their product reviews helpful but they are just one of many ways that I check out products that I am thinking of purchasing.
I get some of their newsletters and one of them is the CNET Downloads weekly. If a free download is REALLY bad they will say so but if it is marginal, I read what is said below the review by people that have downloaded it, and some of the comments are brutal.
And you are correct, they used to be a reliable source.
Just my opinion as I know that there are many.

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does 🙂
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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I use cnet from time to time. Using unchecky [downloaded from its original source], it will uncheck all the extra checked installs. I still do the custom or advanced installs to ensure nothing got by unchecky.

"Take care of thy backups and thy restores shall take care of thee." Ben Franklin, revisted

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I’ve gotten a few downloads from them that my antivirus didn’t like, automatically deleted instead of offering me a choice.

Before you wonder "Am I doing things right," ask "Am I doing the right things?"

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I trust neither and any publisher who chooses cnet as a way to distribute their software is associating with a site that deserves no trust. It should be obvious by the tricks used to make you download stuff you don’t want, thinking it is what you actually wanted.

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I trust neither and any publisher who chooses cnet as a way to distribute their software is associating with a site that deserves no trust. It should be obvious by the tricks used to make you download stuff you don’t want, thinking it is what you actually wanted.

Until a few years ago I would often download programs from various software libraries, including cnet, but these days I avoid doing so if possible.

Can’t complain too loudly though. Most of my work involves cleaning malware off customers’ computers after they have visited websites like cnet. 😉

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Can’t complain too loudly though. Most of my work involves cleaning malware off customers’ computers after they have visited websites like cnet. 😉

ROFL… so true! 🙂

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CNET download is actually okay. You have to realize that in PCs there is nothing “free”. What bothered me is that CNET, as big as it is, got on the “additional software” bandwagon and when you download something you also download bloatware and you have to pay close attention to make sure that it is not installed. I used to subscribe to their technical update service but no more. In so far as their news and information shows, they are pretty good but they seem to have purged most of their people who criticized Apple Computers too much. Now they are like many other California-based media outlets, mostly a mouthpiece for Apple. I have uninstalled all of this software and or apps. However, you may find that a hard-to-find application may only be found on their download.com site.

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To paraphrase Wendell Phillips…The price of free software is eternal vigilance { of the check boxes }! 35623-ROTFLOL

:cheers:

“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” — Wendell Phillips, (1811-1884), abolitionist, orator and columnist for The Liberator, in a speech before the Massachusetts Antislavery Society in 1852, according to The Dictionary of Quotations edited by Bergen Evans

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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Доверяй, но проверяй -Russian Proverb

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I’d be vigilant downloading from any site other than the author’s site, and even then, you need to pay very close attention
to the options you are checking/unchecking. Free usually always has these little hidden costs.

When in doubt, make an image prior to installing. It only take a few minutes.

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Very suspicious of ‘side-along’ loads, and very aware of bloatware.

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Here’s What Happens When You Install the Top 10 Download.com Apps

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Here’s What Happens When You Install the Top 10 Download.com Apps

WOW! Talk about sleazy. I usually search their site for programs and read the reviews, but I always try to find the authors site for D/L. Thanks for opening my eyes.

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What a hoot!

cheers, Paul

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What a hoot!…

38984-alfred

Alfred E Neuman: “what me worry?”.

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Coochin,

Doesn’t that just make you “MAD”!
35623-ROTFLOL

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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CNET used to be my ‘go to’ site, but now it adds so much crapware to every download, I avoid the site.

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