Bloatware

Many people voice complaints about the so called „Bloatware“ that is being put on preinstalled systems. I have a more positive attitude towards some of those programs and like to invite you for a discussion.

A) The 3 months trials for security programs such as Norton or McAfee are very useful for the majority of the users. Many first time PC buyers would probably not install a security program until they had their first “incident”. The 3 month trial gives them at least an initial protection until they have learned the basics and acquired an appreciation for the need for a security program.

B) The trials for Office and alike is very useful for experimenting with these programs. Who likes to dish out $149 before they had a chance to see whether these are programs that fit their needs.


C) Older programs like Works, etc. are always the first that I delete. But I know several people that make good use of them for their daily office needs.

D) OEM system management tool such as HP Updater or diverse system management tools from the OEM will usually not survive very long on my systems. But again, I know people that make good use of them.

E) Program for basic functions like Adobe PDF reader or Roxio are very useful to execute the functions they provide. I replace Adobe with Foxit, but a program like Roxio I keep because it does everything I need for basic CD burning.

F) Games – I delete those asap because I do not use them. But many people like those games and use them.

I am sure you will come up with more categories. These are only a few examples to show that the so called bloatware may be useful for many people. There is certainly a commercial interest on the part of the OEM and Microsoft. But there is also an interest by the consumer. After all, not everybody is a Geek and knows what to do with their new PC at the first hours. The bloatware helps to sort out some areas.

Right on! I can understand where you are coming from. I hate she reinstalled stuff but I can see where it could help some out.

I have purchased only 2 computers which are laptops that have had bloatware on them. I immediately installed a fresh copy of Windows on them both.

I can't really say I've had any problems with bloatware, because I've been building my own systems and installing only what I need since my first 386 computer, and I follow that same rule when building for customers.

However, when I provide a laptop, I usually leave it "as-is", and allow the customer to decide which software is necessary or not, with one exception: Anti-virus. I adjust the cost of my laptops to include anti-virus software, usually Kaspersky, but sometimes also Norton.

I started doing this because I noticed that if I didn't, then the "3-month trial" ended up giving most customers a false sense of security. Normally because the software has expired and the customer was unaware of this fact. So during the initial setup phase, I'd remove whatever time limited anti-virus software is pre-installed, and replace it with something else.

In some very rare intances where a laptop is provided with seperate OS, Drivers and Applications disks, I'd reload the entire OS and install only what is absolutely necessary, but then also only if the customer wants this to be done.

Yes very hard to know, choose which one had to be deleted...

-I decided not to keep the Office Home & Student 2007 trial, as MS Works 9.0 is already install and Open Office set pretty good next to it.

-Some Bloatwaresare installed for the purpose of computer's management and better not be uninstalled...or buy a pc desktop instead of a laptop!

-"Media Suite" are always good as you can upgrade for a cheap price as they're are pre-installed.

-Some other Bloatwares/Games can be easily removed and you could always restore them in case with the restore tool from the manufacturer (a bloatware exemple not to remove)

-Always do your restore CDs if not provided in the package, you'll save time & money!

-I decided not to keep the Office Home & Student 2007 trial

For me it was convenient to find it on the system. I bought my legit copy in 2007 (key for 3 systems) and on the 2 systems I bought after that, I just activated the trial version with my key. No need to reinstall it.

whs said:

-I decided not to keep the Office Home & Student 2007 trial

For me it was convenient to find it on the system. I bought my legit copy in 2007 (key for 3 systems) and on the 2 systems I bought after that, I just activated the trial version with my key. No need to reinstall it.

Only one computer was, so it was quite off for me...between 109 euros to 139 euros to buy.:)

I promptly uninstalled all of the bloatware on my wife's netbook except for Acer management programs and MS Office trial. I added a free anti-virus. I also added a firewall since we use her netbook in public places.