Apple fixes BSOD problem it caused with iTunes 8

Why should any software installed by a user ever be *allowed* to cause an entire OS to crash? The OS should prevent such things from happening. I mean that's the point of it being the OS, that it remains in control at all times.

"Why should any software installed by a user ever be *allowed* to cause an entire OS to crash?" When the software is created by pompous blowhards that only back up their own claims about the competition by use of sabotage.

nutts A kernel level device driver (like the USB driver that Apple installs rather than using the one built in to the OS) will always have the ability to take down the OS. This is true for any OS since a kernel level driver is the interface between the OS and hardware. That's why it requires Administrator level permission to install (it did), why it needs to be very well written and tested before it gets sent to users (it wasn't) and why the installer should notifiy users that a device driver is being installed (they weren't) and only be installed if absolutely needed to support new hardware (it wasn't).

"Why should any software installed by a user ever be *allowed* to cause an entire OS to crash?" As much as I don't want to sound like a CD on repeat, but the same could be applied to my experience of Leopard on my eMac (yeah someone still uses one, I think they're great) - unstable as heck. Same problem I think as iTunes on Vista, bad driver but in my case graphics driver. I gave up and went back to Tiger which is just fine. However the current version of Leopard might now be stable, I just don't want to upset my apple cart. That said, this is why I'm still on iTunes 7.6.1 -- it's working and stable so I won't upgrade until a solid v8 iteration is out.

scooby Any failure (BSOD or Kernel Panic) that can be caused by bad hardware can also be caused by a bad driver. Think about it. The OS only knows what's going on with the hardware through what the driver tells it. If the hardware is supposed to return a value from 1 to 5 and a hardware failure has it return -137834 you have a problem If the hardware is supposed to return a value from 1 to 5, it returns a 3 but the buggy device driver passes that 3 on as -137834, you'll, of course, have the same problem. And, yes, you'd have the same issues with a buggy driver on OS X or Linux or MS-DOS or VMS or OS/360 or MVT or Unix or VM/CMS or Multics or, or, or... Oh, and stop trying to blame Apple incompetence on Microsoft. It just looks ignorant and a bit pathetic.

Amazing! Only a company like Apple can get away with running a negative campaign while facing similar problems with its own software. BTW, I'm really surprised the company didn't issue a statement blaming MS for all this. Yes, there is a whisper campaign going on among its most fanatical supporters, but that's not the same thing. Maybe this will make its way into their ads?

(Golf claps for Apple, Inc.) The bad part is that this was a definite Apple screw up. The worse part is Apple's response to this. First, these idiots had the gall to blame Microsoft, HP, and Logitech for their driver's screwing things up. Then they made everyone unplug all of these items and reinstall everything from iTunes 8 to other drivers. Then other users who had no HP stuff, no Logitech stuff started having problems. It was becoming a tidal wave of complaints on Apple's website, ZDnet, MacFixIt.com, and other places. ZDnet's Ed Bott identified one of the many culprits. On his machine, he determined that a GEARAspiWDM.sys file created a similar problem. Sound familiar? This GEARAspiWDM.sys caused problems back in the hey day of Windows 2000! Even XP users had problems with this system file. 3 different operating systems and pawning bad files on us. 7 years between the 3 OSes to fix this. Thats great coding there Apple. On Apple's forums, people identified usbaapl.sys as another problem file. It was all traced to the Apple Mobile Driver package. Apple's badly written USB drivers causing all the problems. Once again it highlights the need for Apple's Mac Community to stard demanding a long and extensive Beta testing program. Wae's suggestion that Apple get all their hardware and driver's Windows Certified would also be a great step in the right direction. But no, we're just going to hear from the Mac defenders its because, thats right. You guessed it. "Vista Sucks." Microsoft is to blame for "Apple's" coding problems. Go buy a Mac, you'll have no problems. SORRY! Mac users are reporting similar issues with iTunes 8. So this isn't just a Vista or XP issue. Its also a Leopard and Tiger issue too. Apple needs a serious culture change. Instead of smugly assuming it all works, how about testing your crap and quit wasting ad dollars. I"d rather see less "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" commercials and Apple start an extensive beta testing and Windows certification program. Lets add this all up. Leopard and Tiger end up the top two most vulnerable OSes in 2008. iPhone 3G drops calls. iPhone 3G has less than stellar data performance. iPhone 3G fails to stay connected to 3G networks. Mobile Me's disasterous launch. Apple bricks/removes apps from the App store. iPhone 3G update 2.0.1 bricks phones in Airplane mode. iPhone 3G insecure network roaming settings caught at Black Hat convention. Now finally, iTunes 8 causes cross platform crashes. This has really been a stellar year for Apple, let me tell ya. I'm officially dubbing this year, "Apple's Year of Epic Failures!" This company has failed to live up to consumer expectations many times this year. Many people are calling Apple, the new Microsoft! While others are saying, Microsoft is becoming the new Apple. Some people are saying that Apple intentionally did this, so they can produce another Mac and PC commerical about this. Thats what I've read on several different forums across the web. The talk isn't good out there and Apple's negative press will come back to haunt the company. How can any of you guys on the Mac side defend all of these failures? Wake up Apple! Keep this stuff up and eventually history will repeat itself.

I don't understand why Apple does not test as above and maintains the secrecy. It does not seem to benefit them any more. I have 5 other friends with iPhone and no one is having the problems in the news, but a few [free] apps do crash on occassion. But what do you want for free. I like it a lot more than my Treo 650 which had numerous problems. Heck, even our RAZR's had problems. But our iPhones are giving us less. Jailbreaking it seems as if many doors are opened.

If Apple wants to play in Windows-land, they really need to learn how. As it is, this latest fiasco is the best Zune ad ever created. I'm running Vista on my laptop (where I've been trying for months to uninstall Apple Mobile Device Support after taking iTunes off the machine), and in a Bootcamp startup on my 24 inch iMac (Vista rocks on a large screen). In Bootcamp, Apple just released an updater which won't install as downloaded by their software update. Unacceptable. Fortunately, the update does install when downloaded and run by hand. (And improved my Vista experience index from 1.0 to 5.5.) --John (also very tired of Apple's "fixes bugs" or "improves stability" release notes) (First Apple product: Apple ][ in Oct 1977)

I wonder if Apple fired anyone for this.

Ocean - we can only hope! maybe a few chairs were even thrown!

The touch is enough for me. I just want the improved web experience and the music player. Maybe a game or two. My Windows Mobile phone is good enough for email, contacts and business apps.

johnbaxter I'm pretty sure even Leo didn't install "I Am RIch" On the other hand, the insanely restrictive developer program was justified by claiming that as a result iPhone apps would be safe to install. It's fair to forgive Apple for either the restrictions on 3rd party developers or buggy 3rd party apps but not both.

Also gents, after owning a gadget for slightly more than a month without a problem, I don't consider it a success until longer term use proves it. My Treo failed in 3.5 months and my RAZR had problems after 10 months of use. Early problems with newly released gadgets can be expected, but quick fixes are also to be expected from good companies. If not, they suck. Lack of good testing is not smart and akin to rolling dice. Reputations are at risk, and therefore sensable planning [testing] should be a top goal.

Our IT guy just showed me hid Blackjack II, which he just updated WinMo. It funny how my iPhone and the BJ II are so similar and do so many similar things, but the iPhone hype is incredible. Obviously the screen is larger and web surfing is nice on the iphone, but the rest is pretty darn similar. he bought a MacBookAir BTW. He really loves it, but did not bring it with. Isn't that the point? Maybe it's on a shrine:)

New idea for a commercial. (White background and two people standing. One in jeans and a tshirt, another with a business suit on.) Mac: (Facing down to the floor and sweating profusely. Groaning.) PC: And I'm a PC. Mac, are you okay? (Mac looks down grabbing his stomach, puts his hands to the stomach.) PC: He must have downloaded that early version of iTunes 8. Good thing I waited. Looks like he downloaded some bad photographs too. I warned him about those jpeg viruses. He was looking for Drew Barrymore pics, I think? I don't get his obsession with her. We'll Mac, not so smug now aren't cha. (PC walks over and pats him on the back.) (Mac pukes on himself and the floor.) PC: Oh, goodness. That must be the Kirsten Dunst photos. Defender caught that. Oh, I thought Blaster had made me sick. Come on Mac, we'll take you down to IT. Purge those bad bad drivers, Barrymore and Dunst pictures, and maybe we'll put a copy of Vista on ya. Then you can browse the web without those nasty little bugs cluttering your hard drive. (Mac helping PC off to the IT department. Walking off screen.) PC: Does anyone have an antivirus disk around here? Vista: Security Included. (The Windows Orb appears on the screen.)

Jpeg viruses?

@ subzerohitman721 Yes, I'm familiar with jpeg viruses. I'm not aware of any that ever affected Macs, however, which I thought took a bit of the edge off your little satire. Sorry if I was oblique.