Have been scratching my head ....

... and now I am without hair

A couple of days ago I launched Powerpoint ( Office 2011 ) and it told me it had an update for Office for Mac 2011 available.

When I confirmed to install the update, it told me it couldn't update unless I closed the following applications:
1) Powerpoint
2) Safari

I do understand number 1 Powerpoint, but I am deeply concerned about having to close Safari.

Why would Microsoft ask me to close an Apple application if it wants to update a Microsoft application...... Is there any hidden integration between the two ?

Have been researching about this and could not find anything. If I do, I'll post back.
It is not causing any issues, so all is well .... am just curious.

Does anyone have a clue ?

Cheers ... McBie

Wow. You must have some kind of amazing life that you have time to even think about stuff like this.

But the answer is "yes." You've probably (unwittingly or otherwise) installed the SilverLight extension at some point, and of course MS wants to update that along with Office. So they need you to close the browser.

This is why I prefer Apple. They TELL me what they're doing, and why.

chas_m said:

Wow. You must have some kind of amazing life that you have time to even think about stuff like this.

Click to expand...

Lol..... I do have an amazing life in terms of being suspicious of anything that looks suspicious

No ... no Silverlight extension in Safari.

Here is the official answer from the OfficeMac support forum ....
"Most likely because your browser is using the same internet connection as
the download, which can cause conflicts & interference.
--
Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac
"

Now ..... what kind of an answer is that ? I must admit ... the man has a sense of humor.
If the above is true, I would have expected to close Mail, Firefox and iTunes as well.

Let's see what happens with the next update.

For now, I will need to get on with my amazing life

Cheers ... McBie

McBie said:

Lol..... I do have an amazing life in terms of being suspicious of anything that looks suspicious

Click to expand...

Of course this all depends on who's doing the looking!

- Nick

MS has a history of closing all applications when updating products. This is due to conflicts with files that might be in use during the update. So, they force people to close all applications during an install that might cause the update to fail. Nothing may have actually been updated in Safari (I'd have to dig deeper) but they close everything just to be safe. Could be nothing more than a file that MS wants access to that Safari would have open during the install.

I think DaFlake is right. If I remember correctly -- been a while since I installed new software -- there are a number of Mac applications that suggest closing not only Safari but all open applications prior to installation. They're just not as insistent about it as Office.

@McBie

No ... no Silverlight extension in Safari.

Click to expand...

Maybe not the extension, but it's there.... Look in Applications, Microsoft Office 2011, Additional Tools, Silverlight. MS is sneaky.