View source for XUL:Installation Story

<table style="float: right; border: 1px solid #999;">
<tr><td>
* [[XUL:Home Page]]
{{XUL:XUL_Runner_TOC}}
</td></tr>
</table>

= Lumpy the Neophyte =

Lumpy the Neophyte just bought his first computer from Sorry Sons Quick and Dirty computer manufacturers. Sorry Sons pre-install Firefox with Windows because they hate receiving tech-support calls about "the blue E". Lumpy clicks the pretty blue and orange icon to browse the eenternet and finds a cool little game called Hexagonal Minesweeper. He clicks the "download" link, and a dialog box appears:

Technical note: the link runs an xpinstall InstallTrigger javascript, which loads a .xulapp file, which is a specially-formatted ZIP file.

 ****************************************************
 * Hexagonal Minesweeper - Installer                *
 ****************************************************
 * Would you like to install Hexagonal Minesweeper? *
 * Created by: unsigned                             *
 *                                                  *
 * Warning: Only install programs from sources that *
 * you trust. Malicious programs could infect your  *
 * computer. _More Information_                     *
 *               [Cancel Installation]  [Next]      *
 ****************************************************

Lumpy clicks "next", because he didn't read past the first sentence and he doesn't really care about security anyway. The dialog then displays:

 ****************************************************
 * Hexagonal Minesweeper - Installer                *
 ****************************************************
 * Diagonal Minesweeper will be installed to:
 *   C:\Program Files\Total Disaster Corp\Hexagonal Minesweeper\
 *                                       [Change]   *
 *                                                  *
 * After installation, add a shortcut on my:        *
 * [ ] Desktop                                      *
 * [ ] Quick Launch bar                             *
 *      [Cancel Installation] [Back] [Install Now]  *
 ****************************************************

 ****************************************************
 * Hexagonal Minesweeper - Installing...            *
 ****************************************************
 * Please wait while Hexagonal Minesweeper is installed:
 * [+++++++++++            ]
 *
 *    [x] Launch Hexagonal Minesweeper When Finished *
 *                          [Finished (greyed out)]
 ****************************************************

== Lumpy Tries to Uninstall ==

After a while, Lumpy gets tired of Minesweeper; he decides to uninstall it. In the control panel, he selects "Add or Remove Programs", and selects Hexagonal Minesweeper. A simple dialog asks "Would you like to remove Minesweeper 1.1? [Remove] [Cancel]". He chooses Remove. 

Technical note: the uninstaller doesn't even bother asking Lumpy if he wants to uninstall the xulrunner because it sees that Firefox is still installed and using the xulrunner.

Lumpy then looks through his list of programs, because he decides that "cleaning up" is a good idea. He finds an entry "Mozilla XULRunner", says to himself "I never use this", and tries to uninstall it. He is shown the following dialog:

 **********************
 * Mozilla XULRunner 1.1 is part of the following program:
 *   Mozilla Firefox 1.2
 * If you remove it, this program will not function. Are you sure you want to remove it?
 * [*Cancel*] [Remove]
 **********************

= Morgan the Microsoft-Lover =

Morgan LOVES Internet Explorer; she refuses to install Firefox on principle that Microsoft should Own The Web. However, she is a minesweeper freak and HAS to have this new hexagonal minesweeper. She clicks the "download" link, and an IE dialog asks her if she trusts this .exe. She has gotten so used to clicking "run" that she doesn't even read the dialog. The following dialog appears:

Technical note: the link tries to run an xpinstall InstallTrigger javascript, but Internet Explorer doesn't do xpinstall. As a fallback, Morgan ends up downloading an executable file.

 ****************************************************
 * Hexagonal Minesweeper - Installer                *
 ****************************************************
 * Hexagonal Minsweeper requires Mozilla XULRunner 1.1,
 * which is not installed on your computer.
 *
 *   [Download XULRunner Now] [Cancel Installation]
 ****************************************************

The XULRunner installer displays a download progress, a license screen and an install-location screen, then returns to the second screen above (install location).

== Morgan Tries to Uninstall ==

After a while, Morgan finds an even fancier minesweeper that uses Escher tesselations, and she decides to uninstall Hexagonal Minesweeper. In the control panel, she selects "Add or Remove Programs", and selects Hexagonal Minesweeper. A simple dialog asks "Would you like to remove Minesweeper 1.1? [Remove] [Cancel]". She chooses Remove. After a progress meter works for a little while, a second dialog appears:

 **********************
 * Mozilla XULRunner 1.1 is a shared program which was installed by Hexagonal Minesweeper.
 * No registered programs are using XULRunner 1.1. Would you like to remove it?
 * [Cancel] [*Remove*]
 **********************

Morgan chooses Remove, and all traces of xulrunner 1.1 are removed from the system.

[https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=299989 Bugzilla Bug 299989]