http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyware
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Installer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adware
It's funny that if they're all the same thing, that they'd all have different wikipedia entries.... which, for some strange reason, have very little to do with each other.
It's been said a few times in this thread that people just call them the same thing now. Well, no. You people call them the same thing now.
And there in lies the problem.
Yes, there is some adware out there that has spyware. Yes, there are some installers out there that have spyware. Do they ALL have spyware?!?!?!
Will? Missie? Do they ALL have spyware? Do they ALL rewrite ref codes?!?! A simple yes or no answer will suffice.