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Sony The Almighty Buck

Sony Offers Bloatware Removal Service — For a Fee [Updated] 231

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the scams-and-other-marketing-ideas dept.
linuxwrangler writes "First Sony packed its laptops with Microsoft Works, Microsoft Office trial version, Corel Paint Shop Pro trial version, WinDVD and more. Now it is offering to remove the bloatware. Of course marketing changed the name from 'removing the crap we stuck you with' to 'Fresh Start' software optimization. And they want you to pay $149.99 to clean up their mess — $49.99 for 'Fresh Start' on top of the required $100.00 Vista Business upgrade. You can get about $25.00 of that cost back if you select all available 'no-software' options which are only available after selecting the $149.99 'upgrade'. Wonder what they would charge to remove Windows completely." Update 11:57 GMT by SM: It seems that massive outrage at Sony's "Fresh Start" program has encouraged them to drop the fee for scrubbing your laptop of bloatware before shipping it your way.
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Sony Offers Bloatware Removal Service — For a Fee [Updated] More

Sony Offers Bloatware Removal Service — For a Fee [Updated]

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  • PC Decrapifyer will not work? (Score:5, Informative)

    by Zymergy ( 803632 ) * on Friday March 21, 2008 @05:12PM (#22823822)
    I was assuming that PC Decrapifyer cleaned the plethora of extraneous Sony-specific applications, the list does not list one Sony item: http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/apps [pcdecrapifier.com]
    Still, is it is a very FREE and very Useful tool for new PCs.

    Another link OTFA:
    http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/21/sony-hates-you-offers-50-fresh-start-option-to-build-your-la/ [engadget.com]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by alta ( 1263 )
      It's funny, I saw a similar service on Dell's site, except they were removing Microsoft's crap. $2 to remove the games, $2 to remove the communications accessories, there were about 10 things they'd do ranging from $2-$10.

      Crazy

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by The MAZZTer ( 911996 )
      PC Decrapifier isn't very good. I tried it on a computer with a dozen programs that I would consider fit the bill... it only found two, and could only remove one IIRC. The other one was easily removed using the program's own uninstaller, so it's obvious PCD doesn't even try very hard.

    • Re:PC Decrapifyer will not work? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by strange dynamics ( 1219074 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @06:22PM (#22824536)
      1. Thanks for the link. It's ironic that the link in the summary leads to an ad page. Any time a site shows a full page ad before the article I am trying to read, I immediately go back to try and send the message that I will not read their site if they insist on advertising that way.

      2. On topic: Although I completely disagree with sony's actions here, it makes sense that a computer without all the crap would cost more. A crap filled PC is subsidized by revenue from the crap vendors, a clean PC is not.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by NeverVotedBush ( 1041088 )
        You can fix a whole lot of that advertising by setting up your hosts file. It works on Windows, Linux, and MacOS. This site is just one of many that will tell you how to do it and get you started with a pretty long list of useless advertisers that you won't have to see any more...

        http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm [mvps.org]

        As an aside, it can also help keep your computer from accidentally visiting sites that install crapware/spyware/adware on your system.

        But the only computer that I have ever bought

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by arminw ( 717974 )
          .....built and loaded with software from the manufacturer is my Mac laptop....

          A nice feature of Macs is that any programs you don't want are easy to delete. Just drag them to the trash. No need for uninstallers. No registry cleaners or other crap removal problems. Why can't Windows be like that?
          • And another nice feature was that there was no adware/bloatware installed. Just a demo version of their office program and I deleted that and installed Open Office.

            There weren't already tens of icons on the desktop or autorun programs setup that all wanted me to pay more money to buy them.

            Very much more respectful and civilized.

          • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

            by novakreo ( 598689 )

            .....built and loaded with software from the manufacturer is my Mac laptop....

            A nice feature of Macs is that any programs you don't want are easy to delete. Just drag them to the trash. No need for uninstallers. No registry cleaners or other crap removal problems. Why can't Windows be like that?

            Unfortunately even Apple's own applications aren't usually self-contained within their .app icon package like you suggest. If you drag a program like Garageband or iPhoto to the Trash, you're only removing part of the program. For example, the Garageband icon in /Applications is ~86 megabytes, but there are nearly 2 gigabytes of sound loops and such in /Library/Application Support that would be left behind, not to mention individual user preferences and caches in ~/Library.

            In my opinion Windows is actu

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mcrbids ( 148650 )
        Although I completely disagree with sony's actions here, it makes sense that a computer without all the crap would cost more. A crap filled PC is subsidized by revenue from the crap vendors, a clean PC is not.

        How much do you want to bet that Sony didn't drop the amount of subsidies they've charged the software company?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Machtyn ( 759119 )
      Does it replace Vista for XP?

      /sorry, had to do it :^p

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by adisakp ( 705706 )
      I just blogged about my purchase of a QuadCore Gateway with a lot of cruft on it [blogspot.com]. To bad Decrapifyer doesn't work on all the apps on Gateway's or Sony's. It seems mostly targetted towards Dell cruft.

  • How about a Vista rebate instead? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by gnutoo ( 1154137 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @05:13PM (#22823824) Journal

    Why stop at removing "Works" when you could use Ubuntu? Wouldn't Sony then have to give you a rebate for the OS you did not use?

    You would be better off even if you wasted $149 on XP and used your old software. This option does not rule out a nice free software partition. I can't believe anyone will use the "fresh start" service.

  • Geez. forget it. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by OrangeTide ( 124937 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @05:13PM (#22823826) Homepage Journal
    Almost seems easier to just buy the Windows OEM version and install from scratch. Can you get a rebate on a Vista license bundled with your laptop that you aren't using like you could on previous versions of Windows?
    • You don't even need to. Sony Vaios come with the Windows Anytime Upgrade DVD. You can use that to do a clean install.

  • It should be (Score:3, Funny)

    by Tuoqui ( 1091447 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @05:13PM (#22823828) Journal
    From the charging-you-for-our-mistakes dept.

    • Re:It should be (Score:5, Funny)

      by OrangeTide ( 124937 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @05:16PM (#22823876) Homepage Journal
      How much does the option of not killing the family dog cost? I don't think I can afford the please-don't-rape-me option bundled with these products. I'm waiting for the version of a product with viruses loaded onto it to be $50 cheaper, that way you can undercut competitors in advertisements and with customers that buy purely on pricetag. Even though I suspect most customers try to roughly compare pricetag with features to come up with some squish concept of value when they make a purchase decision.

  • Not shocking (Score:3, Interesting)

    by moogied ( 1175879 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @05:14PM (#22823836)
    Consider that best buy, circuit city, and every small time PC repair shop on earth offers this exact same service. People already pay hand over fist to have someone else run some basic software, or in Sony's case... run that software once, update the image, and image that option onto your PC instead of the bloated one.

  • Don't let them charge you (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Rinisari ( 521266 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @05:14PM (#22823838) Homepage Journal
    Instead of allowing them to charge you for removing Windows, simply don't accept the EULA and call Sony to get your money back. Research it online--there's been a lot of people who have been refunded the Microsoft tax for just a few hours of work.

    • As usual... (Score:5, Informative)

      by IANAAC ( 692242 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @05:20PM (#22823932)
      Slashdot's late to the party.

      Gizmodo is reporting that Sony have already stated that starting tomorrow the service will be free.

      • So wait, Sony will still be putting crapware on your new computer, but you can send it back and wait another 6-8 weeks and you can have a non-crapified computer? How does that work!?!
    • ...this isn't about removing windows. It's about removing add-on software. Know how most PCs come with anti-virus, anti-spyware, google earth, google toolbar, etc. pre-installed? That's the type of thing it might remove (I don't know the exact list of what it does remove). It's got nothing to do with removing the O/S.

      On top of that - why not go the easy route and get a machine that doesn't run Windows in the first place - either O/S-less or with a Linux or BSD distribution pre-installed instead?

  • Control Panel - Programs - Programs and Features - (Score:4, Informative)

    by More_Cowbell ( 957742 ) * on Friday March 21, 2008 @05:16PM (#22823882) Journal
    "To uninstall a program, select it from the list and click "Uninstall""

    Not really that big a deal... I guess for $150 VS a few clicks and reboots, I'd rather keep the cash. (I have a new Vaio and already did this) Yes, I know it is only $50 but I have no need for Vista Business either.

    And if you are in a business buying a large volume of laptops (presumably the intended market?), wouldn't it still be more efficient to pay your IT guy to do the same?

    • If you have a large volume of identical PCs, it would be easier just to reimage the entire thing. Or create a script to do the same.
    • If you want a large number of PC's Sony is NOT who you choose. Many of their laptops have drivers installed in the OEM setup disk that flat out aren't available any other way. Most shops that have large numbers of machines use some sort of imaging setup and that doesn't work with an OEM edition of Windows, only with volume licensed editions.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by uhlume ( 597871 )
      Either your "IT guys" aren't getting paid enough, or you can't do basic math. Or you have a very different definition of "a large volume" than most IT shops do.
      • I wasn't talking about "my" IT guys. I was just trying to come up with a hypothetical situation. As for the math...

        $150 * n (where n = the number of laptops)

        $30 an hour * 5 hours = $150

        = WAY longer than this operation should take but then he's underpaid, right? maybe not up to the task at that salary level?

        So then, lets reverse that: $50 an hour * 3 hours = $150.

        Now then, we see that you are clearly being ripped off. If the guy that earns $50 an hour takes three hours to uninstall a few programs... well, th

    • "To uninstall a program, select it from the list and click "Uninstall""
      Not really that big a deal...

      That's a bit like saying "people who receive spam can just click Delete".

      It doesn't work very well when there are loads of things to uninstall, and it doesn't address the fact that it shouldn't be necessary in the first place.

      • That's a bit like saying "people who receive spam can just click Delete".
        No, it's not. Spam is ongoing. I'm talking about a few program uninstalls that never come back. Agreed it should never be there in the first place... but then wouldn't my laptop cost more? Everything is a trade off. I personally would rather spend a half hour uninstalling things and spend $150 less. More money for beer.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Duhavid ( 677874 )
          "but then wouldn't my laptop cost more?"

          It might cost exactly the same, but with the money paid
          to the PC Mfgr going straight to it's "bottom line".

          Heck, they might charge you more with the crud on there,
          because the "value has been enhanced", right?

          What happened to prices before and after the crudware
          installs started?

    • Re:Control Panel - Programs - Programs and Feature (Score:5, Insightful)

      by CaptainPatent ( 1087643 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @06:02PM (#22824328) Journal

      To uninstall a program, select it from the list and click "Uninstall"
      I would like to make two points:
      1) Sony's own load images are to blame for much of the pre-installed adware and unnecessary bloat, why should there even be a fee in the first place to NOT install software?
      2) Often uninstall in Windows isn't as easy as clicking "uninstall" as you suggest. Because of the nifty Windows inventions such as the registry and protected system folders, uninstall is no longer what it used to be. Many times, programs leave traces in the registry which never come out and can still slow the computer, and even cause crashes down the road. If you never load undesired programs in the first place, you avoid this added risk altogether.

      I know not all programs take a merciless rampage through the registry and some uninstallers may be programmed without error, but lets face it, if any one programmer on a project left one registry entry undocumented, one system folder modification unchecked, one startup program off the uninstaller, you have a risk...
      now multiply that by the number of programmers on the projects...
      now by the amount of bloat you have on your system before it's removed...
      It may not be worth $50 to you or me even after all of that because we can easily reinstall, but to the average consumer it can be a lot more cumbersome.

      • 1) Sony's own load images are to blame for much of the pre-installed adware and unnecessary bloat, why should there even be a fee in the first place to NOT install software?

        Because Sony subsidizes the cost of the computer this way.

        I know that on Slashdot, and really amoungst all IT literate people, its long been the trend to hate the software that PC manfacturers package in. But the reality is that it isn't malice or greed that puts its there, its consumer demand; not for the software itself, but for PC manufacturers to do anything to make computers cheaper. People like my mom don't care that the machine runs slower, or that her son spends long time removing this crap, she

    • Not really that big a deal... I guess for $150 VS a few clicks and reboots, I'd rather keep the cash.


      Me, I'd rather keep telling the stupid computer that I want to reboot later. That way I only have to do it once and get rid of all that cruft at the same time. Of course, if you really like watching it reboot, you can do it your way. Whatever floats your boat.

    • "To uninstall a program, select it from the list and click "Uninstall""

      I wish I had mod points to mod you troll. Take a fresh laptop. Uninstall everything other than the OS. Count the size of the data on the drive. Format the drive. Install the OS. If the number from the first part is larger than the second, then there is a difference between a "fresh" install and an install that had crapware put on it then removed. I've done this exercise. The sizes don't match. Crapware does not uninstall compl
      • Ok, assuming you are 100% correct:

        1.I've done this on my new Vaio. There are certainly most likely a few registry keys or whatever left over, but I certainly don't notice them. How the hell does that make me a troll?

        2.Hate to break it to you, but you are the kind of mod that everyone here bitches about. DISAGREE != TROLL.

        Please get over yourself.

  • Headline INCORRECT (Score:5, Informative)

    by Buran ( 150348 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @05:17PM (#22823892)
    Sony will NOT be charging a fee.

    Sony Drops $50 Fee to Remove Useless Bloatware [wired.com]

    Oops.

    Next time, do your research to make sure you have the latest info, mmmkay?
    • From the Wired article you provided:

      Fresh Start will now be a no-cost option on Sony's slick subnotebooks, but only for those who opt for Windows Vista Business Edition, a $100 upgrade.

      Perhaps they should still offer it for regular edition, then market the business edition upgrade as "Upgrade to Business Edition and get Fresh Start free, a fifty dollar value!"

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by HTH NE1 ( 675604 )
      Slashdot was just slow to post the story. But on the Firehose 59 minutes before it went up, that link was in this link: Wired: Sony Drops $50 Fee to Remove Useless Bloatware [slashdot.org].
    • I guess you must mean research into time-travel. Wired lists that as a "breaking" story at March 21, 2008 11:13:07 AM which is after I had submitted the story to Slashdot. If you are desperate to blame - try blaming latency in the Slashdot story posting process.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Buran ( 150348 )
        That's where the blame is supposed to be placed. It's not as if Slashdot doesn't constantly get screamed at for the same thing, after all ... but as is usual they failed to get off their lazy asses and verify their postings to make sure the information in them is still correct. This shouldn't have been posted. It's not your fault, but it still shouldn't have been approved/posted.
        • That's where the blame is supposed to be placed. It's not as if Slashdot doesn't constantly get screamed at for the same thing, after all ... but as is usual they failed to get off their lazy asses and verify their postings to make sure the information in them is still correct. This shouldn't have been posted. It's not your fault, but it still shouldn't have been approved/posted.

          Certainly, but I thought half the approval process was getting people to rant and rave on a non-story. This is /. remember ;)
  • is in order.

    Just keep pounding on these people until they submit and start acting responsible.

  • not to be a fan boy, but... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by bwy ( 726112 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @05:19PM (#22823914)
    This is one of the most refreshing things about a Mac- you don't have to reload the OS as soon as you buy the machine. I would NEVER use a preload version of XP or Vista. Never, ever, ever.

    I haven't seen what Ubuntu preloads look like from the likes of Dell. Hopefully, it is nice and clean and about what I would do if I installed it myself and got all the drivers working.

    • Re:not to be a fan boy, but... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Animaether ( 411575 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @05:29PM (#22824018) Journal
      if you were a fan boy, you'd pretty much be a fan of "not that I have much choice in the matter".

      Yes, it's wonderful that Apple doesn't bloat up the default installations of Mac OS. Then again, it's not Microsoft that's bloating up the default installations either - it's the computer manufacturers. Apple is in the sweet position to be both the OS developer and the manufacturer + distributor of their computers.

      On the other hand, you -can- get a 'Windows PC' that doesn't have any bloat. You can get one that has internet-specific bloat. You can get one that has games-specific bloat (popular games server management stuff pre-installed), etc. You get a choice.
      Yes, I know, by far the majority of those choices will have -some- manner of bloat. But, again, you do get a choice.

      Personally I don't see why anybody would actively -choose- any sort of bloat, but maybe that's just because the appropriate bloat hasn't been presented to me yet. Let's say there was a 3D graphics computer that with pre-installed Blender, The Gimp / Cinepaint, InkScape, etc. I wouldn't particularly complain about that 'bloat'.
      • It's worse. Some OEMs complained to the DoJ about Vista trying to stop them from 'customizing' the user experience on first boot. Read here. [arstechnica.com]

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Hatta ( 162192 )
        Let's say there was a 3D graphics computer that with pre-installed Blender, The Gimp / Cinepaint, InkScape, etc. I wouldn't particularly complain about that 'bloat'.

        You mean UbuntuStudio [ubuntu.com]?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by zalas ( 682627 )
      When I bought my 12" Powerbook G4 a while back, it came with various random stuff, like trial versions of Office, loaded onto it. Granted, it's not as bad as some of the Windows preloads get, but it's still far from a "clean" system. On the other hand, the Mac Pro I just bought came very clean, and I only reinstalled Leopard because I wanted it on a different hard drive.

    • Re:not to be a fan boy, but... (Score:5, Informative)

      by p0tat03 ( 985078 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @05:44PM (#22824158)

      Hate to rain on your party as a fellow Mac user... But that's not quite true. Macs come out of the box with a junkload of pre-load software. Granted, the quality of them far exceed the kind of apps you see bundled on Dells and Sonys, but nonetheless, MacOS X isn't quite so clean out of the box.

      Oh, and a clean install of OS X takes FAR less room than what you would see on a Mac out of the box. I've done it before. Things like Garage Band take up a huge amount of space, and while I do like the app, most users will probably never run it.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Buran ( 150348 )
        While it's true that Mac do sometimes come with extras, not all of it timebombware or crippleware, it's also true that that stuff doesn't load at boot and drag the system down. Uninstalling is generally as easy as putting the app in the trash and emptying the trash. Much/most of the stuff you get on Windows systems hooks into the boot process and does slow you down -- and isn't that easy to get rid of.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by p0tat03 ( 985078 )

          True. I find the bundled software on Macs to be in general far superior to their PC counterparts. Nothing loads at boot, nothing alters your UI, or adds floating buttons to your desktop, etc. That being said, if MS had a say on bundled software I'm pretty sure won't see half the useless stuff guys like Sony and Gateway pack in with their machines.

          In fact, the only thing I really don't like about the bundled software on OS X is MS Office. The other bundled apps tend to be reduced-functionality apps that ha

      • I would add this caveat. All the preloaded software does not load into memory when the operating system boots up. Usually, the preloaded stuff sits innocuously in the Applications folder and are not even link in the Dock. The only lost is hard drive space which can be easily reclaimed by dragging the offending application to the trash. However, sony and other PC OEMs load a lot of crap into the memory right from the beginning. That slows the performance of the computer right out of the box in my opinion i

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AK Marc ( 707885 )
        The wife just bought a Mac. It came straight from Apple with no software extras ordered (arrived yesterday, I haven't had time to play with it). What programs are loaded on it that start on startup that are not part of the OS? What programs does it come with that will stop functioning after 30 days? Those are the crapware that I'm specifically focused on, no matter what it is or where it's from. Including Yahoo!Music for free isn't a service for me when Yahoo! pays to have it on there and it starts on
    • I think office 2004 trial came preinstalled when I bought my macbook.

  • Dell has this option (Score:4, Informative)

    by KevMar ( 471257 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @05:24PM (#22823964) Homepage Journal
    I saw that Dell has a small business line of PC's that they claim to ship free of all that bloatware. I dont remember the name of that product line. But I liked the fact that you didnt have to select it as an option, it was a standard feature.

    The first thing I do to every new computer I get (or my family) is to reformat and reinstall windows.

    • Re:Dell has this option (Score:4, Informative)

      by MojoStan ( 776183 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @05:45PM (#22824168)

      I saw that Dell has a small business line of PC's that they claim to ship free of all that bloatware. I dont remember the name of that product line. But I liked the fact that you didnt have to select it as an option, it was a standard feature.
      It's their super-cheap Vostro line of desktops and laptops for small business, which were introduced Summer 2007. Vostro hardware is nearly identical to the new Inspiron desktops and laptops introduced at the same time, but are "business black" instead of silver.

      The press release for the Vostro introduction [dell.com] described the "no trialware" feature:

      • "The Vostro branded products feature no trialware and simple to use tools that address top-of-mind problems such as data back-up, PC performance and health, and specialized networking support for customers without dedicated IT staff."
      Of course, some buyers probably think Dell's "support tools" is "bloatware," but I guess that's what you have to accept when you buy a PC with support and warranty.
  • ....but I'm holding out for the pay-to-throw-out option.

    We can do better!

  • One of life's little axioms (Score:5, Funny)

    by Man On Pink Corner ( 1089867 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @05:27PM (#22824002)
    "If the answer involves giving money to Sony, you must have asked a really silly question."

  • Partially honest. & how much is bloatware wort (Score:5, Interesting)

    by klubar ( 591384 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @05:37PM (#22824100) Homepage
    In some ways, Sony is at least being (partially) honest in that they explicitly price the removal. Other vendors hide the cost by wrapping bloatware free versions into specific models (for example, Dell's Vostos and Optiplex) don't have much bloatware, but are not exactly identical to an equivalent model.

    Does anyone know how much the vendors actually get for installing various trial versions?

    Also, there is some danger of one man's bloatware being another's convenience. For example is pre-installing Adobe Acrobat and Flash bloatware or value? How about Google toolbar? Firefox? And on down the line... iTunes?

    And, Macs aren't exactly bloatware free. Quicktime is a trial version with a nag screen to upgrade. Macs come with trial versions of Office (how much does Microsoft pay for that) and Omni outliner.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by solitas ( 916005 )
      And, Macs aren't exactly bloatware free. Quicktime is a trial version with a nag screen to upgrade. Macs come with trial versions of Office (how much does Microsoft pay for that) and Omni outliner.

      But isn't the Quicktime a full-feature reader (kinda like Acrobat - all the 'read' works while the 'create' doesn't)?

  • Why pay Sony when you can get Crap Cleaner [ccleaner.com] for free? Uninstall the junk you don't want via add/remove programs and then use Crap Cleaner to clean up anything that the uninstallers leave behind.

  • I have a vaio and about this crap they install.. (Score:3, Informative)

    by cybereal ( 621599 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @05:39PM (#22824126) Homepage
    I have a Sony Vaio subnotebook with all kinds of crap installed on top of WinXP Pro. But here's the deal. You can make a CD version of their restore kit, though. And when you restore that way, they let you choose to ignore the little "restore partition" that wastes a lot of space so that's awesome.

    But the best part is, the "crapware" doesn't go on until the OS is all restored. It's clean until you finally boot back up and it starts asking for CD's again. At least in the version I have, you can cancel the process there. You'll have to get your own drivers from the download site, which isn't hard, they have a nice streamline downloader that produces a report and everything.

    So at least with my Vaio T-340P I had no troubles working around the (realistically minor compared to some machines) bloatware.
  • When my shop sells any new system, my techs go over the machine before it leaves the building - the first thing I have them do is remove the crapware (including the Norton trial most come with), load Avast if they dont have their own AV, install Spybot, windows updates. The idea is that the user can take full advantage of the system from the moment it leaves the store.

    • Re:Another good reason to avoid the box stores (Score:4, Interesting)

      by KillerBob ( 217953 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @06:40PM (#22824688)

      When my shop sells any new system, my techs go over the machine before it leaves the building - the first thing I have them do is remove the crapware (including the Norton trial most come with), load Avast if they dont have their own AV, install Spybot, windows updates. The idea is that the user can take full advantage of the system from the moment it leaves the store.


      Y'know, some users would consider your choice of software to be little difference. Your choice in software is perhaps a little more benevolent, but you're still making software choices for your user, and installing stuff they didn't ask for. Plus... from your wording, I'm assuming that you're a reseller, and that systems from Lenovo/HP/Dell/Whatever are leaving your building? What happens when your customers call up Dell tech. support and expect help with Avast? After all, it came with their computer....

      You may also want to check on the EULA conditions for Avast, because I *think* what you're doing is against the license. It's certainly against the AVG license.
  • Some local stores will bundle software on their white box PCs.

    Fortunately it's usually something relatively useful, such as the free version of AVG AV or a DVD burner/media package.

    The brand names use these loads of bloatware to reduce the price of their systems, in addition to their larger purchasing power, so they can compete with the local white box stores who otherwise would be cheaper in many cases.

    After all the problems removing the bloatware - try uninstalling McAfee and having it hose your network c
  • I'm a bit shocked. Well, not shocked exactly... more like generally disappointed.

    I have run into problem after problem with Sony computers, PDAs and just about everything except for their TVs and video cameras. When I took on my current employment, there were Sony laptops littered everywhere and they were all dying horrible deaths of one sort or another. (Most of them had a problem with the video panel flaking out) Meanwhile, the Dells and IBM/Lenovo units were running strong in spite of their age and t
  • How much would you bet that the vendors of crapware pay Sony to add their trial software? Sony knows perfectly well that their customers hate this stuff but rather than forgo the revenue they wanted to try to pass the paying on to you, the customer.

    Sony's offer to make this service "free, with upgrade to business version" still allows them to get paid. I suspect the spread between the OEM OS cost of the consumer edition vs. the business one is still less than they'll charge for the upgrade. In other wor

  • Insightful and Informative (Score:3, Insightful)

    by dave562 ( 969951 ) on Friday March 21, 2008 @06:21PM (#22824532) Journal
    This is a good article because now we have some idea about what all of that bloatware is worth to PC manufacturers. $150.
  • Wonder what they would charge to remove Windows completely

    and the correct answer is $1499 [apple.com]

    Yes that's a lot, but you must admit, getting rid of Windows is worth it!
  • The bit that REALLY pissed me off was some screensaver that would kick in because it was evident that it downloading new stuff as well. It took me a while to find that one.

    Some stuff is OK, but maybe I got simply used to zap the rubbish from the moment I get the thing - Windows Vista, Symantec AntiVirus and trial versions of MS software go first (to be replaced by Windows XP, Kaspersky and OpenOffice on the Windows partition, and some Linux distro on the more used side, although I have found the latest Ubu
  • sort of like how the Posche 911 GT-3 RS and the Lamborgini Gallardo Superleggerra are both less car than the car its based on yet they cost thousands more...

    not that i'm comparing a sony oem machine to a porsche or a lamborgini...

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