Because "MS" not followed by corresponding failure from another company -- for mandatory "balance" of course -- is gratuitous slamming. Same as always.
Yes they have to update the extension
You should read the OP. It's about installing extensions without permission, not updating them.
Again, what do you propose Firefox should do to protect itself from Windows Update? Conflating a WU install with vulnerabilities in Firefox extensions is your hook for blowing chaff away from MS, but it's irrelevant and hamfisted. Are the stealth-installed toolbars that plagued MS products for years similarly blameless? I think they're pretty skeevy, myself. As is Microsoft, in this instance.
Are Firefox extensions over-privileged? Yes. Are they ripe for exploit? Yes. Is Mozilla's repository review for mitigating these dangers insufficient and untenable? Yes. Is Mozilla's disinterest in making Firefox run with reduced privileges under WIC, an interim stopgap that could limit malware damage NOW, foolish and harmful? Yes. If Mozilla doesn't start moving to address these issues soon (and from what I've seen from their reactions to Bugzilla submissions, they won't), they'll pay for their dumbassery.
I don't mind talking about Mozilla's shortcomings. But not with someone discomfitted beyond reason by MS criticism, who'll bend every discussion into a lament about how unfair the world is to Microsoft.
I've located the paper your chromesource posting talks about. It's here:
http://www.adambarth.com/papers/2010/barth-felt-saxena-boodman.pdfIt's interesting and unnerving, so thanks for that. I knew one of the authors casually years ago, Aaron Boodman. He's a remarkably smart guy who knows his stuff (he's the author of Greasemonkey for Firefox, for one thing, so he's especially well-informed about extensions).
Anyway, you'll have to excuse me for a while. Or congratulate me, if you're in a good mood. I've gotten a new system I haven't unpacked yet, and I'll be doing the drudgery of moving files, de-crufting, and getting accustomed to a new OS, Win7.