Thread:Project:Support desk/Media Viewer - Reasons for Very Unfavorable Opinion

I am a very frequent user of Wikipedia. Suddenly, without warning or explanation, pictures started to be displayed very differently than what I was accustomed to seeing. The following are the reasons for my very unfavorable response to your product.

-I originally thought the change was the result of maleware because there was no warning of the change. The animosity I felt and still feel from this perceived attack, especially after I extended so much unsuccessful effort looking for the associated malware, is forever attached to Media Viewer.

-My perception of malware was reinforced because "Wikimedia" & "Wikipedia" are almost identical. I was convinced "Wikimedia" was selected to intentionally be mistaken for the very well known "Wikipedia" making people feel it was a trusted Wikipedia product.

-There does not appear to be any gain from Media Viewer because the original long time display of pictures works very well and is about as simple and intuitive as it gets.

-The original Wikipedia picture viewer provides a very clean display and does not fill the screen with more unnecessary text, buttons, and black borders.

I other words, the manner in which Wikipedia previously displayed pictures worked very well and was not at all broken. I used it frequently for many years and resent a sudden unannounced change that does nothing positive. Somehow, you changed it without warning or explanation to something that does not have an equally clean uncluttered appearance without giving me any choice. I still do not know who Wikimedia is other than some entity that closely copies the Wikipedia appearance. Did Wikipedia intentionally decide to use your product?

Since both Malwarebytes and ESET in depth scans did not find any software installed without my knowledge, I have come to the conclusion the Media Viewer display is sent with a picture each time a picture is viewed. Nevertheless the malware scare and associated effort to find and remove it, left a very bad taste in my mouth for Media Viewer even though I do not like its cluttered appearance.

Thank you.

barryng@bellsouth.net