If there is one thing my compulsive mind does not like, it's seeing little Chevrons on my Quick Launch toolbar. Especially since it also usually means there's a new icon on my desktop that I need to delete.

Y'see, hillbillies like'un to keep their desktops orgie-nized. And to do that, I like to know what's on it. Which means I like to decide what goes on it. And I don't need the likes of Apple, Microsoft, Adobe, Nero, or anyone else using it as a dumping ground for a piece of software I may not even keep, let alone use enough to warrant an easily-accessible icon.

The screen I love to see most in an installation is: Do you want an icon for <my app> on your desktop? WinZip is masterful at this, asking not only if there should be a desktop icon but if they should even *create* a program group for it in my Programs menu.

And the answer is no. I can no longer remember the last time I actively sought out the WinZip application, if I ever did. That's what the context menus are for.

Apple is a particular thorn in my side on this issue. Not only did they not even ask to install icons in the Quick Launch bar and the desktop, every time I get an update from them, I have to delete these things all over again.

And there is simply no reason for me to have them. I have never, ever opened QuickTime directly to do anything. Oh, I've viewed my share of .mov files. By double-clicking them. Why would I need an icon (or even a program group) for it? Apple, of all companies, should recognize this and give me the option not to add the icons.

I'd make the same complaint about Acrobat Reader but I went one better on Adobe. Not only did I delete the icons and program groups, I also deleted the application itself in favour of Foxit Reader. But it is a textbook example of an application that needs no icon. Anywhere.

My Quick Launch bar is sacred ground. Yes, it shouldn't be necessary with the likes of SlickRun and WinKey but I still use it for applications I open sporadically, if not regularly. Until I can spare the twenty-six seconds it takes to set up a magic word or hotkey for them.

Until then, lay off my Quick Launch, QuickTime.