WindowMix PUP on Mac
WindowMix is the of an application you may find installed on your Mac without your knowledge. The reason you have no memories of when you installed or allowed WindowMix to install is because it is a potentially unwanted program. Potentially unwanted programs or PUAs fill the gray area between legitimate applications and full-blown malware such as viruses and ransomware.
The way apps such as WindowMix end up on your system is usually through bundlers, also called bundle installers. Those represent software packages carrying multiple apps. One of them is often legitimate and is the main reason you downloaded the installer in the first place.
However, bundle installers have very poor disclosure of the additional components they contain. If you do not explicitly choose the "custom install" option, a number of potentially unwanted apps that are piggy-backing inside the installer will end up on your system.
WindowMix is an app that allegedly enhances your browsing experience. It doesn't really help or improve your browsing in any way. On the contrary, it acts like adware and partly like a browser hijacker. Once WindowMix is installed on your system, you will begin to see banner ads and pop-up advertising on pages that do not usually have any of this.
Those ads are usually intrusive and if anything, they diminish your browsing experience instead of enhancing it. Additionally, those ads may potentially lead to malware-laden web pages and it is strongly advised not to click on any of them. The only thing this does is redirect you to a potentially unsafe page and generate revenue for WindowMix, which serves those ads in your browser through its app.
Furthermore, WindowMix may store your search queries and your IP, among other information, and may use those to generate further revenue. This is why it is not recommended to keep it installed on your system, in addition to the fact that the displayed ads are often intrusive and use up unnecessary system resourced and bandwidth.
In order to avoid similar potentially unwanted applications from finding their way on your system, it is best to never download installers and apps from free download websites, as a lot of those may carry bundle installers with PUAs in them.
Your best bet is to always visit official app outlets that have strict curation, such as the App Store or the official website of an app's developer or publisher. This will ensure you always steer clear of bundle installers that may potentially carry PUAs such as WindowMix and apps similar to it that will diminish your user experience and may carry potential additional threats to your system's safety, through bad links contained in some of the ads they serve.
