Sony charges $50 to remove laptop bloatware. This is comic relief. Not only do you have to pay extra for not getting the bloatware, you have to also upgrade your Microsoft Office. Hee hee. I am so glad I dumped Bill and Co. as my primary system back in 1990.

This story caught my eye and I had to smile. I mean, nobody does bloatware quite like Microsoft, but theirs is not the only software that you find trial versions of on new packaged PC's. Even macs come with some bloatware, but it's never pre-installed so the drivers and support files are not in the system and you can more easily trash it unlike what I've found helping friends with PC's. I've got to admit I have Windows 2000 Pro running on my Mac in Parallels, and although I rarely use it, I probably have bloatware in there that I didn't bother to take out. As long as the virtual hard drive Parallels creates stays relatively small in size (15 GB for the system and Office Pro 2000) and a few apps) I don't really care since I have plenty of outboard storage available. But if I find the need to increase the space for supporting some Win application in the future, I'll start dumping any bloatware that is lurking in the install.

Sony has already backed down from this.

When I got my Dell laptop from Dell Home (not Small Business) two years ago, it was loaded with Bloatware. I managed to get them to ship me Windows re-install CDs and when I wiped the hard drive and re-installed Windows, there was no bloatware included!

I have heard that Dell Small Business doesn't include bloatware on their laptop - only Dell Home. And in many cases, they are basically the same hardware anyway.

Andrew

Yeah, this one is just NUTS!

It's a mixed bag too. When we purchased new Dell laptops, I liked them. Good price, good functionality, etc...

Dell shovelware, which is my preferred term, is just horrible. Very little of it adds value. The system info / support pieces are solid, but most everything else is just crap.

Bought some IBM (now Lenovo) machines and really liked them. Better than the Dulls for sure!

Different breed of shovel ware! The wireless manager is pretty, but mostly broken. On the other hand, the pre-boot support / backup / restore / diag system is just killer! For media, the Dell stuff was just a bunch of experience crap, adding no new functionality.

The IBM stuff is decent. DVD mastering software, etc.. all good. Spartan, but good.

IBM came with Diskeeper too. The lite version, but totally useful, and worth the upgrade.

I used to just want either a machine with *nothing* on it, so I can build it up KSKD style, or plain vanilla, so the same thing can happen with win32.

After my IBM experience, it would be good to just pick and choose. I would skip things that are really just re-purposed managers. No value add. Would choose things like media tools that actually do something that one can't do with the core win32 software set. Skip anti-ware. It's all horrible. Add Firefox, Open Office, etc...

--->Only an MBA could come up with the idea that the customer should pay for the value add if they don't want the value add.

These days, I use XP quite a bit. Work mandates it. Virtual environments mean I can have open software in the running without dual boots and such. So it's a really nice blend between personal (which is all open) and professional (win32 / mac / Irix still) computing.

A well configured and conservative XP machine is nice. I've pretty much zero issues, but for picking through way too much software to realize a solid environment.

Shovelware is a big part of that trouble. So is the tons of applications available. In this way, the Mac is actually the best of the bunch. There just isn't so much, meaning there is room for open stuff, and what is there generally adds value.

It's a much better scene.

Part of it comes down to the design and manufacture bit too. Apple is a single source, so only so much crap is gonna be tolerated. The OS has nice features to handle this as well.

Win32 / Linux is a mess because the market is a mess! Everybody building lots of stuff, doing this and that, with all sorts of middle people trying to differentiate with anything they can because margins are just too low.

Missing_kskd writes:
The wireless manager is pretty, but mostly broken.

This is largely a function of the wireless card in the laptop. If you have an Intel wireless card, you will get the Intel PROSet/Wireless manager; otherwise you'll get one appropriate for the card (from the computer maker or the card maker). I have an Intel wireless card in my Dell laptop but I choose to use Windows to manage my connections. XP has wireless management built in and you should be able to use it. I find it simple and effective.

It's always a good idea to make sure you have the latest wireless driver for your card as well if you are having any sorts of problems with your wireless connections.

Andrew

Totally.

I like the windows manager and use it. Simple, and effective. That's one of the bloatware / shovelware things that does not add any real value from what I can see.

Oh, that's another thing.

Rot ware!

Gotta hate it when vendors ship older drivers with their stuff. Why bother doing it at all then?

Well, you know it takes a lot of work to compile and test drivers for each model of computer. The vendors can't afford to do it every week as new drivers are released. Also, remember that newer drivers sometimes don't work properly so you have to test them, you can't just compile them together from latest with no testing.

So I don't blame the vendors, really, for not always shipping the latest drivers. A new driver could be released the day it ships anyway and you still want to check for updates.

They should do it fairly regularly (once every other month or something, or if there is a known urgent fix) but not every week - too much to expect.

Andrew

It's Bush's fault.

There! Ha!

Carry on! (I just had to do that!)

(sarcastic reply to Skybill's comment)
Does Bush even know what a "computer" is? Or, if he does, that they no longer use reels and take up an entire room?
(end sarcasm)

Just earlier today, I started downloading Debian Linux 4.0r3. I'm actually going to get around to installing it this time, vs. the previous versions and distros that I planned on installing but didn't.
I've been using Win 98 SE on this computer for nearly seven years (BTW, IMO 98 SE was the last halfway decent MS OS)... definitely time for a new OS (although I am a glutton for punishment and will attempt to set up a dual-boot on the computer).

OK, back to the subject.

That's one of the reasons I build my own PC's. I've never bought a "pre-packaged" PC.

That way I can pick the mother board I want along with all the peripherals.

I can also load whatever I want and not load a bunch of bloat ware!

It's a little more inconvenient, but at least I get what I want!

I do the same... but I would really like to have a laptop next. Where can you find parts to build a laptop?

Bill, I've built half a dozen desktop PCs, using mostly cheap motherboards from Fry's. I've had great luck. I have one box now with Windows 2000 on it. Another is my trusty FreeBSD-based web server that has been running almost continuously for 2.5 years. I recently built a new Core 2 Duo FreeBSD box that I'm going to migrate to soon.

The only desktop I put XP on was one I gave to my Mom.

Unfortunately, it's hard to build a laptop. You can buy them with no OS on them but that winds up costing more than just getting one with Windows. When I bought my 2-year-old Dell Inspiron E1505, I got it with Linux in mind. I have a dual-boot setup now with Ubuntu Linux and XP. Lately I haven't been using Ubuntu because I haven't gotten around to re-loading the latest version (which is really, really good, installed it elsewhere including on a flash card on my laptop, but I don't use it that way).

But as I said, just re-installing Windows on my Dell got rid of all the bloatware.

Andrew