A friend pointed me to Raymond Chen’s blog, which offers insights into Microsoft’s software and business design process. (Apparently, Chen is a point person within Microsoft who deals with issues such as compatibility and legacy software.)
Recently, a customer asked Chen,
Does the Windows XP Add/Remove Programs control panel expose a scriptable object model? We want out program to open the Add/Remove Programs control panel and uninstall the programs of our competitors.
Interesting sentiments. The blog entry has garnered more than 49 comments so far, including, early on, this one, which is my favorite:
“Maybe they can uninstall their own program while they’re at it.”
Unfortunately, most of the answers provide rather technical information about how to do what the customer asked.