Apple has been criticized in the past for using its software updating service to push unwanted software. Last year, for example, the company came under fire for offering Safari for Windows to users who had not installed the application, going so far as to pre-check the program so that users who simply accepted the default downloads received the browser. John Lilly, the CEO of Mozilla, the open-source developer responsible for Firefox, said Apple's tactic because updates are traditionally used to patch or fix existing software, not install new programs.

Later, Software Update so that Safari was unchecked, requiring users to explicitly request the browser.

By 3:30 p.m. ET, Apple Software Update had dropped the iPhone Configuration Utility as a potential update to the same PCs that earlier had indicated the tool should be downloaded.

Apple did not immediately respond to questions about why the iPhone utility had been offered, and whether the company had erred in listing it as an update for Windows users.