p2pnet - rss feed: Dell bloatware
p2pnet.net news:- “When I say I want no software other than Windows and Office, I MEAN I WANT NO SOFTWARE OTHER THAN WINDOWS AND OFFICE!!” - shouted Fairplay in a June 18 post on the Direct2Dell blog, going on:
I remember last year when I ordered 8 BRAND NEW Optiplex machines for a client. When the machines arrived, my client ripped me a new one because all of the machines came with the Google CRAPWARE on them and I had to spend time - time I could NOT bill my client for - removing that filth. I called my rep and at the time SHE DID NOT KNOW DELL WAS INSTALLING THE GOOGLE TOOLS. In fact, the option to remove wasn’t even on her screen.
I also want to know why I have to get the Adobe PDF editing software THAT I HAVE TO PAY FOR but cannot get the machine without.
Until this issue is resolved - until I can get the software I want on computers I order and pay good money for, I will continue to shake my fists and curse the darkness that is DELL COMPUTER.
Says OpenDNS of Google tools:
About a year ago Google and Dell announced a partnership to include the Google Toolbar on new Dell computers. At the same time, Google was trying to convince the Department of Justice that changing the default search engine in the (then) new IE7 was too difficult (when in reality it’s really simple). Installing the toolbar meant that users would have Google as their default search engine in IE7. It also meant that Dell and Google would share some of the revenue from the advertising clicks that resulted from these installations, much like The Mozilla Foundation does with its Firefox browser.
The computer hardware business has razor-thin margins which means making a profit is tough. So the opportunity for Dell to get a recurring revenue stream from an existing customer long after the sale of the computer is more than just enticing, it’s huge. It also means a couple other things:
1. Dell and Google have an incentive to make it very hard for users to turn this off.
2. Because users can’t get rid of it, Dell and Google can get away with putting more ads on the page and pushing user-relevant content off the page.
But, “The purpose of this utility is to handle a mis-typed URL by responding with a webpage of suggested links that contains both sponsored pages (paid placement) and typical search result links, versus returning an error page with no results or guidance,” says Dell WW client software manager Michelle Pearcy.
“Some folks prefer the suggested information, some don’t.”
When you buy any laptop, or desktop, for that matter, it’s inevitably loaded to the gills with unwanted and asked for extras, popularly known as bloatware and which many (most?) buyers have no clue how to remove.
But Dell has generously agreed to allow people who buy certain of its products, specifically Dimension desktops, Inspiron notebooks, and XPS PCs, the option of excluding bloatware.
“We’ve expanded our pre-installed software opt-out offering,” it blogs, meaning buyers will no longer be force-fed ‘productivity,’ ISP, photo or music software they didn’t ask for in the first place.
But Trial versions of anti-virus bloatware, Acrobat Reader and Google tools will continue to come pre-installed on Dimension and Inspiron systems.
If you don’t want the anti-virus trial, what to do? “Don’t accept the end user license agreement (EULA) at first boot to automatically uninstall,” says Pearcy, or, “use the new Dell uninstall application to get rid of it.”
Meanwhile, “Weve launched a software uninstall utility on Dimension and Inspiron systems in the U.S, so customers can have more control of the software on their system,” says Dell.
Also See:
OpenDNS - Google turns the page… in a bad way, May 22, 2007
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Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local politicians. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance. Don’t just complain. Do something!
June 22nd, 2007 at 9:18 pm
http://cexx.org/craputer.htm
Enough said
June 23rd, 2007 at 9:02 pm
I continue to see brand spanking new computers with the worst choices in software preinstalled, AND a heap of “trial versions” of software. These include:
* Norton/Symantec or McAfee anti-virus/spyware/whatever products. Possibly the most bloated “shitware” in the industry, these products use huge amounts of memory and CPU time, while simultaneously making themselves extremely annoying through warnings and pop-ups that never end. Superior solutions such as avast! antivirus are ignored, yet avast! is updated more regularly and uses so little memory and CPU time that even though it’s modern software, its minimum requirements are “486 with 64MB of RAM” for Windows 2000 and up.
* Toolbars, BHOs, search helpers, and CD filter drivers all over the place. I mean holy crap, if this stuff was so damned important, WHY is it not part of Windows?
* Office comes free! Oh wait, it’s a “60-day trial version.” That’s bait-and-switch in my opinion. I tell my clients to get OpenOffice.org and turn off the JRE to speed it up; that takes care of that problem, and Microsoft gets the shaft for even coming up with a trial version of such vital software.
* Other programs the user is NEVER going to use. I have yet to see anyone using their “Paint Shop Pro trial” (I love PSP myself, but that’s not the point), much less even sniff at “NetWaiting.”
To hell with all of that. I’m almost to the point that I’ll advise the user to reinstall from scratch themselves and ignore the “APPLICATIONS CD” in the process…