Sizing Up Software: The Uninstaller Says It All

Recently, I had a run-in with an . . . interesting piece of software. While I wouldn't install it on any PC that I didn't plan to drop off at a landfill, I think it has some valuable lessons to offer.

IncrediMail is a desktop email client. Its most notable feature is its ability to add colorful backgrounds, emoticons, animation, and other multimedia effects to a user's email. It also makes heavy use of HTML-formatted email.

It's a popular application. I can't figure out why, because it is an absolute disaster in every way that matters.

When Software Attacks!

I could tell you how IncrediMail bloats the size of the email it creates to unbelievable proportions. I could mention that anyone looking for a job -- or simply trying to be taken seriously -- should think twice about sending email crammed with dancing smiley-faces.

I could also point out that IncrediMail's Terms of Service and software End User Licensing Agreement are the subject of a hot debate. (You can also read about issues with IncrediMail's EULA here. The site that published this page was apparently forced to remove it, but you can still find it courtesy of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.)

Finally, I could let you know that users who purchased the paid version of IncrediMail routinely complain about the company's support and business practices. That includes a rash of complaints about unauthorized charges to their credit cards for "subscription renewals" they did not purchase in the first place.

If you really want to size up a piece of software, however, just focus on one crucial detail: its uninstaller.

Any legitimate application won't just provide an uninstaller. It will provide an uninstaller that actually works.

IncrediMail's IncrediMess

IncrediMail is notorious for making a complete mess when it installs on a user's system. That might explain why its uninstaller is comically ineffective. Then again, it might not.

All software installers make changes to users' systems. They may install files and folders, change configuration settings, and alter the Registry on Windows systems. A really good application keeps these changes to an absolute minimum, and when appropriate, it allows users to choose whether or not to make them at all.

An application, for example, that wants to change your browser's default home page or search engine should always ask you to approve these changes.

IncrediMail makes a staggering number of changes when a user installs it. According to one source, its installer creates nearly 2,200 Windows Registry keys and installs 800 files. Another states that IncrediMail adds over 1,600 new Registry keys and more than 3,100 new values.

Still another source, after using a software utility to track the changes IncrediMail made to a test system, logged a jaw-dropping 15,000 lines of changes. The open-source Mozilla Thunderbird email client, by comparison, logged just 300 lines of changes during its installation process.

So IncrediMail makes an ungodly mess. But the real trouble starts when you ask it to go away and clean up after itself.

Microsoft's own support site has a page devoted to fixing the Windows Registry after IncrediMail breaks it. The fix involves manually editing the Registry -- a potentially dangerous task -- and still doesn't completely eliminate IncrediMail from your system.

Legitimate software doesn't behave this way -- ever.

It's not that hard to turn up problems before you install a piece of software. Even a cursory Google search will provide the information you need. When you see so many users complaining so bitterly about a product like IncrediMail, it's time to turn around and walk away.