Build: 2001-04-13-something, Mac OS 9.1 To reproduce: * Install Mozilla. * Start re-installing Mozilla, and specify the same folder to install it in. * Click `Continue', and read the alert. What you read: | | An older installation of Mozilla was detected. Please choose to delete the | directory contents of your current Mozilla installation by hitting the | 'Delete' button. Alternatively, please hit the 'Cancel' button and choose a | different destination directory | | ( Cancel ) (( Delete )) The main problem with this text is that it's just too long. In addition, I count at least twelve individual UI problems with the wording and punctuation. Listing them all here would probably be counter-productive, so ... What you should read: | | An older installation of Mozilla already exists in this location. Are you | sure you want to replace it with the one you're installing? | | ( Cancel ) (( OK )) (This wording is closely modelled on that used when overwriting files in the Finder.)

Ok, looks like this applies to the Unix installer too. I don't know why it's in two Unix files, rather than just one. Gah. I made a mistake in my suggested wording. It should be: | | An older installation of Mozilla already exists in this location. Do you want | to replace it with the one you're installing? | | ( Cancel ) (( OK )) (`Are you sure you want to' should only be used when the destination item is newer than the source item, and that's not true in this case.)

ssu, can you please review my attached fix? I cannot verify that it actually works in the installer (since I don't own a unix or a mac), but at least it compiled fine! :) Tell me what you think...

Mac => sgehani

dveditz: wrong bug? this is all/all and has a patch

timeless: sgehani does the Linux and Mac installers, ssu does windows Samir: setting desired milestone (keyword) to 0.9.1 given the nearness of 0.9 and your backlog, but the patch looks good (and safe) if you can squeeze it in with your other bugs. r=dveditz for the text change. I'm not so keen on changing the button from "Delete" to "OK" -- I don't want users to gloss over the potential destruction of themes and plugins they've installed. If a "Delete" button is somewhat surprising then good, that was the point.

Hmmmm. dveditz has a point. I think the Finder's alerts in this situation use `OK', rather than `Delete', because deletion isn't a recognizable part of the user's move/copy action -- it's just a side issue. When the user acts to delete something, and they get a confirmation dialog, the button should be `Delete', because the user is expecting something to be deleted. But when the user acts to install something, and they get shown a button called `Delete', they'd be much more likely to just click `Cancel' without reading the alert at all. (I wasn't deleting, I was installing!) However, it is good for the action button to be a verb. So perhaps `Replace' would be better -- it's more understandable that already-installed files are going to be Replaced by the new ones, than that something is going to be Deleted as a result of the installation. Thanks for working on this, Håkan.

The problem with "Replace" is that this isn't all we do -- the Mac and Linux installs still follow "nuke from orbit" practices, and until "surgical upgrades" are implemented on those platforms we DELETE any and everything in the installation directory whether it was ours or not. If a "Delete" button scares people into cancelling, backing up, and picking a fresh directory then I think it has done its job. Once a better upgrade strategy is in place this dialog wording issue is moot.

since this is not a win installer issue...

The same still applies to any folder which is overwritten -- even if the to-be-overwritten folder contains a lot more stuff than the replacement folder, the button in the Mac OS alert still just says `OK'. I filed bug 76458 for extra text explaining that plugins and themes will be nuked. But I still think the button should just read `Replace'.

Over to Syd for installer bug triage

we dont show this warning anymore

This warning is still displayed on Mac and Linux when upgrading or installing over a previous installation.

OS X has no installer alert on Windows was rewritten in bug 210731 alert on Linux was rewritten in bug 69153 marking WFM

verified