Microsoft Selling 'Signature PCs' Sans Crapware

[Drag0nR1der]

[citation][nom]Silky Salamandr[/nom]LOL When I saw the headline, I knew this was Mr yams work! Out of all the people that work there, he is the only one that does anti microsoft/windows 7 articles. And the main guy had the nerve to write that huge response to Mr yam being a fanboy. I had my chuckle for the day.[/citation]

What the hell are you talking about? you know sans means ... without ... don't you? Knowing that, and, as anyone reading this site should, knowing what crapware actually is, how could you think, from the title this was an anti-MS article?

I personally think Marcus has written some pretty poor articles (well, not so much written them as just copied them verbatim from whatever ad he read) but this is clearly just a mindless attack on the guy for no reason.

 

[Drag0nR1der]

[citation][nom]ssalim[/nom]How about make it unbiased? news should be news not news+opinion.[/citation]

Where is the bias in this article? hte only thing that gets remotely close is saying "would you believe" and that hardly counts.

 

[sleepflower]

[citation][nom]brendano257[/nom]The latest and greatest from Windows! Oh wait...Apple already had that...Flame me all you want, but Mac OS has always been clean of bloatware from the start. I use a PC solely for work and play, but you've got to at least recognize that Windows isn't everything and Apple has something to offer too.[/citation]

OSX does come with the frankly brilliant preview program (one program to view pdf, jpeg (even multiple at onece) is great to have on your every day machine built in with no overhead, but other than that, apple can be just as bad, well actually worse...

The first mac I bought (white macbook, now on my second a macbook pro 13") had Tiger 10.4 installed along with a trial of MS office and wait for it... A trial copy of iWork and iLife. This was just around the time the mac v pc ads came out claiming no trial or bloatware on a mac. I was furious.

While I am at it I wish my PC either had a better copy of Quicktime (apple codes so bad on PC, as the codecs run great, the player is bloatware in the back) or ran it natively and I had preview or something akin to it, clean and tidy. Conversely I wish my mac had something as good as the new wordpad with it. Oh and msn has no video chat function on a mac (naughty ms) and ichat is terrible, as it is platform dependent. I could quite happily give unbiased opinion on the two all night, but I had better go to bed.

 

[Drag0nR1der]

[citation][nom]sstym[/nom]Marcus, though I agree that having to uninstall bloatware on a new laptop is a real pain, it sounds like your argument boils down to "less choice is better".I think your ideal Windows computer is a macbook: limited hardware choice controlled by the software editor. It makes for really stable machines but also allows the vendor to inflate the price and limits your choices. The marketing department just has to persuade people that fewer choices is really awesome©.This really reminds me of Henry Ford saying "Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black".[/citation]


Henry Ford never said that, it's a complete myth. I don't get that impression from this article at all. We all KNOW that the crap manufacturers install just slows down a pc, why try and argue this isn't the case? Not installing it at source is nothing like restricting the platform and what can go on it, or in it for that matter... leave the guy alone and save the bashing for when it's deserved

 

[kingssman]

ugg the thing i never understood the reason why or cause of is "Windows Rot" I can give somebody a fresh new computer with a clean install of windows and over the course of 1 year of being connected to the internet the system is slowed down by 50% and some of the games that i installed on it from day one, the FPS is cut in half or sometimes wont run at all. What's worse is I hate Bloatware.... granted that most bloatware is needed because windows doesn't have a user friendly built in alternative like video editing, cd burning, photo organizing.
If Windows could come out with an OS with the features that OSX has built in. then they wouldn't have any need for "bloatware" because the OS version is almost perfect.

 

[xiiifigs]

[citation][nom]Drag0nR1der[/nom]Actually I disagree, I like to see opinions on a site like this. It's not as if this is reporting serious world events, or reviewing a product (where objectivity is critical to creating a useful review). There are certain issues I think need to be taken seriously and with impartiality... this to me isn't one of them[/citation]

You know what, you're right and I was wrong to call it subjective, the fact that his style might strike me as such in the beginning doesn't need to mean that I can't read the article again and reflect. It's never too late to learn a lesson.

 

[cliffro]

[citation][nom]Kingssman[/nom]ugg the thing i never understood the reason why or cause of is "Windows Rot" I can give somebody a fresh new computer with a clean install of windows and over the course of 1 year of being connected to the internet the system is slowed down by 50% and some of the games that i installed on it from day one, the FPS is cut in half or sometimes wont run at all. What's worse is I hate Bloatware.... granted that most bloatware is needed because windows doesn't have a user friendly built in alternative like video editing, cd burning, photo organizing.If Windows could come out with an OS with the features that OSX has built in. then they wouldn't have any need for "bloatware" because the OS version is almost perfect.[/citation]

They tried doing stuff like that already, and every time they do, someone cries foul(monopoly) and runs to the EU or DOJ.

 

[sleepflower]

[citation][nom]Kingssman[/nom]ugg the thing i never understood the reason why or cause of is "Windows Rot" I can give somebody a fresh new computer with a clean install of windows and over the course of 1 year of being connected to the internet the system is slowed down by 50% and some of the games that i installed on it from day one, the FPS is cut in half or sometimes wont run at all. What's worse is I hate Bloatware.... granted that most bloatware is needed because windows doesn't have a user friendly built in alternative like video editing, cd burning, photo organizing.If Windows could come out with an OS with the features that OSX has built in. then they wouldn't have any need for "bloatware" because the OS version is almost perfect.[/citation]

I find my mac gets rot too, just not quite so quickly, 2 years and it definitely needed a new install after loading and uninstalling software over that time. As for windows, it already does have cd/dvd/blu ray burning built in as standard now (vista had cd/dvd). Also has a photo program. As mentioned previously, preview is great, but equally wordpad negates most need for word, whereas textpad is merely ok for notes. Memos are best.

 

[jimmysmitty]

About a year ago I had this idea. Found that a lot of people were having trouble with compatability (hardware) and bloatware.

Thought MS should have their own line of PCs designed for their OS from the low to high end.

This is close to it. Maybe I should see if they will open a store where I live and I will manage it.

 

[anamaniac]

Nice to see.

However, browsing the Sony VAIO site, I noticed you can select a clean install option when customizing it on their 16.4" beauty...

 

[croc]

[citation][nom]JMcEntegart[/nom]Since now, I guess? I don't get it. Last month Marcus was getting stick for being "pro-Microsoft" and posting too much Windows 7 stuff. Now he's anti-Microsoft and his perfect computer is a macbook.Starting to wonder if we posted his stuff under "bestofmedia team" would people praise us for "getting rid of that Marcus Yam character."[/citation]

Worth a try...

 

[zak_mckraken]

[citation][nom]tektek[/nom]Oh.. so i shouldnt say whats on my mind now? even if i believe that this isnt newsworthy.. ? thanks for the thumbsdown too.. wonder whats next.. Censor comments.. "you will like what we say.. damnit?!"[/citation]
The thumbs down comes from people like me who think comments like yours are useless. In fact, the tooltip on the little red thumb-down icon spells "Useless message". If you want to say something negative, at least add some arguments so people might actually care of what you think.

 

[WyomingKnott]

[citation][nom]JohnnyLucky[/nom]I wonder how far Microsoft is willing to go in removing unwanted software and utilities?[/citation]
Everything except Internet Explorer, of course.

 

[deadlockedworld]

I would like to note for the record that Ars Technica posted this article as

"Microsoft selling crapware-free PCs in its stores"

Maybe they plagiarized you, or perhaps ITS THE APPROPRIATE TITLE for this relatively neutral article.

 

[bliq]

I guess you really do have a choice.. All that bloatware, ostensibly subsidizes part of the cost of a notebook. Every windows machine I've ever bought from a company, as opposed to being selfbuilt, had them. If you want one without bloatware, buy one from a boutique builder and don't complain that it costs the same as a MacBook. $399 laptops exist because someone paid to lower that price. And if Apple chose to install crapware, they too could have $399 MacBooks.

 

[bliq]

[citation][nom]boxbabax[/nom]Interesting article Marcus, ignore the haters. I'm excited that MS is taking initiative in this area, it goes along great with the new MS stores.[/citation]

The question is "Is there a premium to pay since there's no subsidy? Or is MS absorbing the cost?"