Sorry to bring up an old subject but I don't want my thumbnails cropped BUT I do not have the selection you specify in my admin/Option/Image view:
macalter ... the confusion about cropping is killing me!
You do not have to have square cropped thumbnails! Go into your admin panel, click Options tab, click Image Display tab, and uncheck the box next to "Crop thumbnails:" (8th from the top). The thumbnails will not be cropped!
We would never be daft enough to force you into cropping! It is the default, but you can change it easily. Sorry for the confusion.