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Apple's Software Update utility is intended to alert users to new versions of iTunes or other Apple software installed on a user's machine.

However, the latest version of the Windows updater automatically selects the Safari browser to be downloaded - whether or not the user already has the browser on their machine. Users would have to untick the box to prevent Apple from installing Safari on their PC.

Mozilla CEO John Lilly claims Apple is abusing users' trust. "What Apple is doing now with its Apple Software Update on Windows is wrong," he writes on his blog. "It undermines the

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trust relationship great companies have with their customers, and that's bad - not just for Apple, but for the security of the whole web."

Lilly claims Apple's actions are almost tantamount to malware. "By and large, all software makers are trying to get users to trust us on updates, and so the likely behaviour here is for users to just click 'Install 2 items,' which means that they've now installed a completely new piece of software, quite possibly completely unintentionally.

"Apple has made it incredibly easy - the default, even - for users to install ride along software that they didn't ask for, and maybe didn't want. This is wrong, and borders on malware distribution practices."

And Lilly predicts problems ahead if users lose trust in updates. "It's also critically, crucially important for the security of end users and for the security of the web at large that people stay current," he says.

"If people don't update software regularly, it is impossible for them to remain safe; good software developers are creating improvements constantly. That's why Mozilla spends so much time making sure our own Automatic Update Service works, and why we spend so much time agonising over the user interface for the updates."

Apple was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.