Webuser Forums: Real Player

Hello.

I'm starting to regret installing Real Player on my computer. I've read several postings on other forums, which criticise Real Player very strongly. In fact some people have dedicated whole sections of their own web sites to crusading against Real Player.

They say that Real Player fastens itself very tightly to Windows, making it very difficult to uninstall. They say that it 'takes over' aspects of your computer, making itself the default for all sorts of things, running itself when you didn't ask it to, and generally making a nuisance of itself. They say that it is in constant communication with the Real Player company, 'phoning home', sending details of what you're viewing/listening to, presumably with the idea of having more effective advertising. I've heard the word 'spyware' used in connection with Real Player. However I lack the expertise needed to confirm this. And some of the forums I looked at were quite old.

Essentially, when I downloaded Real Player, I thought I was just getting a device to sit on my computer, and play stuff when I wanted it to. And obviously, when you get something that's free and useful, you accept that it might want to show you some adverts. However, from what I've read, it could be thought that Real Player is a whole lot more than that. And if it's true, then I'll want rid of it.

So really I'm asking a couple of things. 1) Do people here agree with the critics I've mentioned, and do you think that that stuff applies to newer versions? (Mine is Real Player 11.0.0.372 running on Vista Business, with Norton Internet Security.)

2) I get the impression that Real Player arrived on my computer in many segments. And I suppose it's possible that it has downloaded more bits during the time it's been here. So if I decide to uninstall Real Player, how do I make sure I'm uninstalling ALL of it?

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