Over at eWeek, Peter Coffee offers a security analysis called Always-On Applications Should Mind Their Manners. (I haven't read this book, but if you travel a lot you might want to pick up a copy.)

By Always-On, of course, he doesn't mean what we mean here. He's talking about background programs that run whenever the computer is being used, such as security programs.

Coffee compares these programs to your staff. They're going around your PC doing their thing, and that's useful. But if employees aren't prepared to be interrupted by a higher-priority task, if they won't take direction in other words, you fire them.

Software programs don't always work that way. They have their own schedules to keep, and giga of hertz to go before they sleep. And giga of hertz to go before they sleep.

It's a good point. If programs are living in your memory they should be well-mannered. But I'd like to extend that point.

All programs need to be under your control, and not make demands of you. Specifically they should let you set their priorities, not demand priority as their right.

This is especially true for security and media programs. Both are now considered necessities. Both are competitive markets.

When I had to re-install Windows for my son yesterday, for instance, his security settings were over-ridden by the business arrangements Microsoft had with another vendor when the operating system shipped. When Microsoft installed its own security features into SP2, it immediately began demanding priority from my existing security system, constantly claiming I was "insecure" when I was just running someone else's stuff.

It's worse in the media space.

Users of the Real Player (and MusicMatch) know that software is constantly demanding a paid upgrade. It's like the valet who's got his hand out for the tip before he parks your car.

The latest version of Windows Media Player, meanwhile, demands to be your "default" player on all files before it will even install. I happen to like iTunes, and I might like the new WMP more if I had it. But I'm never going to find out if it makes demands of me first. It took iTunes days to convert my WMP files over to its format, and I'm not going to waste that time just so Windows can have a "taste" of my media business.

What makes this issue urgent is that many sites now choose a "default" file format, and if you don't support it you can't get to their multimedia. The BBC, for instance, requires the RealPlayer for their video users. MSNBC requires the Windows Media Player. Maybe I want to use both, and others that use QuickTime as well. You mean I can't without re-setting my defaults each time?

No thanks.