TONT 42673 为什么没有程序化的方式访问开始菜单的锁定列表？

没有我这个世上最好的程序，你都是怎么活过来的？

We learned our lesson the hard way.

我们是通过一种艰难的方式学到这个道理的。

In Windows 95, we gave programmatic access to the Start menu “Fast items” list – the items that appear at the top of the Start menu above the Programs list. This area was meant for the user to customize with their favorite links, but programs quickly saw the opportunity and spammed themselves into it every chance they got.

在Windows 95中，我们设计了程序化的方式来访问开始菜单的『快速访问』列表——也就是固定显示在『程序』上方的那个列表（译注：对Windows 9x开始菜单没有概念的同学请自行检索）。这块区域原本是为用户提供可以自定义他们最喜欢的链接（和程序）的，但（第三方）应用们很快发现了这里的商机，不放过任何机会地把自己bia在了这个列表上。

In IE, we gave programmatic access to the Favorites menu, and once again, programs spammed themselves into it.

在IE中，我们（也）提供了通过程序化的方式来访问『收藏夹』菜单，（第三方）应用们也不失时机地挤了进来。

In Windows XP we intentionally did not give programmatic access to the bold list of items at the top of the Start menu (the “pin list”). The pin list is for users to put their favorite icons. It is not the place for a program to decide unilaterally, “I am so cool. I am your favorite icon. I just know it. So I’ll put myself there because, well, I’m so cool.”

在Windows XP中，我们故意没有提供程序化的方式来访问开始菜单顶端最为醒目的那块列表（所谓的“固顶列表”）。固顶列表是让用户（自己）放置他们喜欢的图标的，而不是让（第三方）应用自顾自决定的。『老子真帅，有谁不爱，你若不知，由我告白。』

Because we knew that the moment we let people mess with the pin list, everybody would install themselves into it and it would become meaningless (and annoying).

（之所以这样设计，是）因为我们知道一旦我们允许人们玩弄固顶列表，人们就会想尽办法将自己往上贴，那么这个列表就没有意义了（而且还会变得很恼人）。

What’s particularly galling are the programs that, as part of their install, decide that they are so cool they want to be everywhere to make sure you don’t miss out on the coolest most amazing program ever written in the history of mankind, so they go into the Start menu, into the Fast items, onto the desktop, into the Quick Launch, onto your Favorites, take over as your default autoplay handler, and even hang out as an icon next to the clock on the taskbar just in case you somehow missed all those other places – and each time you run them, they go and recreate those icons and settings in case you “accidentally lost them”.

尤其使人焦躁不安的，是某些程序在其安装过程中，觉得自己实在是帅呆了、酷×了，要使自己在整个系统里处处露脸，以便你不会错过他们开发的、开天辟地以来最炫酷的程序，于是乎，他们出现在开始菜单里、快速访问列表里、桌面上、快速启动工具栏里（译注：即在Windows Vista之前，在任务栏上点一下即可启动对应程序的小图标区域）、收藏夹里，把自己变成自动播放的默认应用程序，甚至变成在任务栏通知区域（译注：所谓的“托盘”，即屏幕右下角显示小图标和时钟的区域）时钟旁的图标，免得你错过了其它所有的地方——并且每次启动它时，这种应用都会把所有这一切都检查并“修复”一遍，以免你“不小心搞丢了”那些露脸的地方。

I hate those programs.

我恨死这种程序了。

（译注：本文写于2003年，彼时著名的3721中文上网软件已经开始利用捆绑、系统漏洞等方式强行推广，并采用各种方式防止删除，国人与国产流氓软件的斗争此时已开始数年，想想真是唏嘘不已。）