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Sony's Fresh Start option, available only with TZ2xxx series laptops, requires Windows Vista Business edition and grays out the option to include Micosoft Works in the final configuration.  (Source: Sony Style)
Sony offers removing trial-ware for a fee

Trial-ware is an annoying aspect of buying a new PC from a manufacturer. What makes it worse is when manufacturers do not offer the option to users to remove the trial-ware from the PCs before they get shipped out. Sony has heard consumer's pleas, and has decided to cash-in by charging for not installing trial-ware.

Sony is now offering a new option dubbed "Fresh Start", which essentially means that trial-ware is not installed on a PC before it is shipped out. This option, however, is not free and comes at a fee of $50.

Users can choose a "Fresh Start" for their PC during the configuration step in the Sony online order process under the "Software Optimization" section. Although the option does remove annoying pre-installed applications, charging $50, or any fee for that matter, to remove software consumers don't want in the first place is more than one would want to pay, especially if all the manufacturer has to do is build a common image without the unnecessary software.

Despite the fee it charges, it seems that Sony still wants to limit the consumers to whom this service will be available to. Currently, "Fresh Start" can only be purchased with the TZ2000 and TZ2500 model laptops. Narrowing down the list further, it is only available to customers who choose the Windows Vista Business operating system over the Windows Vista Home Premium option, which is a $100 premium on its own. In addition, if a customer wants the Microsoft Works suite, the Fresh Start option is unavailable to them, further limiting the options.

Based off of the lengthy list of requirements for the "Fresh Start" option to be made available during the order process, it is safe to conclude that Sony has mostly business users in mind for the option. The fact that choosing Windows Vista Home Premium rules out the "Fresh Start" option further corroborates Sony's intentions for targeting business users.

In the event a system recovery is necessary, there is no mention whether trial-ware will be installed when using the recovery partition/disc.


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And Microsoft gets fined by the EU...?
By therealnickdanger on 3/21/2008 1:48:17 PM , Rating: 4
Seriously, what a crock of sh*t. I hate, hate, HATE bloatware! I remember when I bought my last Dell laptop. The first time I powered it up was with my trusty DBAN CD in the drive. After a quick wipe, N-Lite and go!




RE: And Microsoft gets fined by the EU...?
By beyazkeyat on 3/21/2008 1:59:05 PM , Rating: 1
I didn't get any bloatware on the Dell laptop I bought a while back, it was quite nice. What a rip that they make you PAY to NOT INSTALL it, though.


RE: And Microsoft gets fined by the EU...?
By MrSmurf on 3/21/2008 2:03:19 PM , Rating: 5
Not really a rip if you think about it. Sony and others make money by putting that trash on your PC. It's like paying for HBO to have no commercials.


RE: And Microsoft gets fined by the EU...?
By FITCamaro on 3/21/2008 2:12:56 PM , Rating: 1
To charge you NOT to do something though is absurd. This is why I buy notebooks from independent manufacturers like Sager. You get the hardware + a fresh install of whatever OS you choose. Only thing they load is the drivers you need.


RE: And Microsoft gets fined by the EU...?
By Duwelon on 3/21/2008 2:22:37 PM , Rating: 5
The trialware reduces the cost of the PC. By not including the trialware they're forgoeing any payments made to them by the companies who pay them to install the trialware in the first place.

Trial ware sucks, but this isn't as bad as it sounds. Now if everyone would do it... you might see that $50 fee become a competitive $20 or something like that.


RE: And Microsoft gets fined by the EU...?
By eyebeeemmpawn on 3/21/2008 2:59:24 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
The trialware reduces the cost of the PC.


call me a glass-half-empty kind of guy, but the way I see it, trialware increases Sony's profit margin.


RE: And Microsoft gets fined by the EU...?
By johnsonx on 3/21/2008 10:30:25 PM , Rating: 4
quote:
The trialware reduces the cost of the PC.

quote:
call me a glass-half-empty kind of guy, but the way I see it, trialware increases Sony's profit margin.


There's no difference between the two. You don't understand how a free market works if you think there is.


RE: And Microsoft gets fined by the EU...?
By ImSpartacus on 3/22/2008 11:01:02 AM , Rating: 2
There is a difference, PC vendors will charge more for PC's without bloatware.

It's not like they are going to say "Oh we'll just take a smaller profit on this PC if you don't want bloatware." No, they make the same amount anyway, it's just a matter of whether you want to save 50$ and let them put trials on, or cough it up and save yourself a whole 15 minutes.


By johnsonx on 3/22/2008 11:21:11 PM , Rating: 2
You completely missed my point, yet illustrated it perfectly anyway. Well done.


RE: And Microsoft gets fined by the EU...?
By pauluskc on 3/21/08, Rating: 0
RE: And Microsoft gets fined by the EU...?
By dever on 3/21/2008 3:18:34 PM , Rating: 5
You seem to have missed the point. Sony, along with most hardware vendors, receive money from the software vendors when they install the trialware on the computers. This allows them to save $xx dollars when building a system. Thanks to competition, this savings is passed on to you. Those who don't install the bloatware, have a higher cost to produce the same PC as those who do.


RE: And Microsoft gets fined by the EU...?
By Duwelon on 3/21/2008 4:38:46 PM , Rating: 3
You're not telling anyone anything they don't already know. In fact, its probably a lot more expensive to create the Bloatware image than the Non Bloat image.

However, By using a bloated image, they get Paid by several companies, kind of like a sponsor. Everyone does this, so the savings go to the consumer in the end anyway. If it was just one company doing this you might have a point, but the bloatware profits are a very real part of a companies overall profits.


By jackedupandgoodtogo on 3/23/2008 2:38:54 PM , Rating: 2
The argument that bloatware reduces prices is not quite accurate. Bloatware only increases the profit margins, not reduce the manufacturing costs. Competition is what's hurting profit margins, and so everyone resorts to ad placement on their machines to make up for this profit margin squeeze. Does that make it right? No, because for someone who has to maintain them, I have to go and remove them or reinstall a fresh OS. This is time and computer resources that's being taken away from me at a fractional savings on the computer purchase price. For your average consumer, they may not know what all that trialware is for, but it sure does take up a lot of hard drive space if they don't need it.

So you may be saving $50 up front, but you're paying everyday from owning less of the computer that you bought. If you decide to clean it up, that's time and money spent doing that. My time is worth more than $50.


RE: And Microsoft gets fined by the EU...?
By dever on 3/24/2008 4:09:39 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Does that make it right?
You seemed to be confusing business practices or decisions (good or bad) with some sort of personal malice aimed at you.

Businesses understand that installing bloatware will irritate some users, such as yourself. But, many people, do go for the extra $50 savings rather than having a clean system.

And no, bloatware doesn't "reduce manufacturing costs," but it does offset them. And, because of competition, it's connection to the profit margin isn't certain.


By jackedupandgoodtogo on 3/25/2008 2:00:27 AM , Rating: 2
Please clarify for me. You say I'm confusing business practice with "personal malice", and then you say businesses understand their act of installing bloatware *will* irritate users other than myself, therefore making it no longer a *personal* malice. If they know their business practice is going to irritate users, isn't that considered malice?

Do yourself a favor. Go to Sony, HP, and Dell's site, configure a comparable system and price them out. You'll find they're not exactly the same price, and you'd be hard pressed to figure out which system is giving you a "savings" from the bloatware they pre-install. I'll give you a hint. HP is not the cheapest, and they also give you tons of "free" software for your "savings".


RE: And Microsoft gets fined by the EU...?
By pauluskc on 3/21/2008 3:33:39 PM , Rating: 2
And you seem to have missed the point that Sony is gleaning the extras as extras, not cost reductions. I couldn't believe that they are competitive in their prices vs. higher performance without Apple like self-worship vendors in the hundreds (thousands?).

Pocket Waxing.

Why do you call it bloatware anyways?
- Because it would be the same exact system without it.
- Less work involved not doing it in the first place.
- Reduces consumer feeling of satisfaction (bloat++).

YUCK!


By ImSpartacus on 3/22/2008 10:58:33 AM , Rating: 2
It is not the same system without bloatware. It would cost much more.

Bloatware is like commercials on TV or ads on websites. The website owner gets paid for displaying ads and the TV company gets paid for displayed commercials.

PC companies get paid for putting bloatware on their computers. You pay more to have a computer without bloatware.


By pauluskc on 3/21/2008 3:36:24 PM , Rating: 2
Plus, I actually save money on Dell when I don't install MS bloatware. Can't sell a bloatfree system with MS Works? WTF??


RE: And Microsoft gets fined by the EU...?
By Yawgm0th on 3/21/2008 2:18:24 PM , Rating: 2
You didn't? Are you sure? I've purchased or setup many Dell laptops over the last few years, and I usually recommend Dell, but they always come with bloatware. I spend an average of 2.5 hours per system removing unnecessary programs. It's actually faster to reinstall Windows, in many cases. My own E1705 came with Vista Home Premium and about 40 processes worth of Dell-preloaded crap I did not need.


RE: And Microsoft gets fined by the EU...?
By Duwelon on 3/21/2008 2:26:46 PM , Rating: 2
In my last job a few years ago, we ordered a lot of PC's from Dell's business side and they never had any bloatware of any kind. Maybe the home vs business side has something to do with it.


By Snuffalufagus on 3/21/2008 2:39:43 PM , Rating: 2
With some corporate accounts you can contract with them to have a specific configuration as the 'default config'. It can include software, splashscreens, etc...


By mindless1 on 3/22/2008 6:24:01 AM , Rating: 2
Yes, Home vs Business is one of the primary factors.


RE: And Microsoft gets fined by the EU...?
By beyazkeyat on 3/21/2008 2:40:47 PM , Rating: 2
Yes, I'm quite sure. I did get a Vostro, though, so that probably made the difference there. Got it with Vista Ultimate. The only thing it had on it that I didn't like was the Dell Network Monitor and that was quickly disposed of. I guess the Small Business sector is a luxury :D


By Yawgm0th on 3/21/2008 2:41:41 PM , Rating: 2
Ah, small business. The consumer side of things is a very different experience.


By crystal clear on 3/22/2008 3:41:12 AM , Rating: 2
Dell was one of the first PC manufacturers to offer to remove bloatware.


RE: And Microsoft gets fined by the EU...?
By Wolfpup on 3/21/2008 3:49:49 PM , Rating: 3
Dell's the only major OEM that gives you a clean OS CD. After checking that everything works, I always reinstall fresh. Sony, HP, Toshiba, etc. at best just give you an image that restores it back to factory condition.


By Master Kenobi (blog) on 3/21/2008 4:14:37 PM , Rating: 2
At one point in time Toshiba also came with an actual Ghost CD, that didn't have the bloat on it. There was a second CD included with it that had the automated installer for all the Bloat, which I kindly discarded. This was a few years back though, they may be different now.


By gerf on 3/22/2008 4:18:10 AM , Rating: 2
Just run Decrapifier, and you're good to go!
http://pcdecrapifier.com/
I'm in no way associated with the program, but holy moly does it work!


By mindless1 on 3/22/2008 6:25:57 AM , Rating: 2
Depends on how you define major. I bought an Acer a year ago that came with full OEM OS CD.


And they were so close
By hlper on 3/21/2008 2:02:16 PM , Rating: 5
As has been stated, manufactures rely on "bloatware" for part of their profits on new systems. Sony should have set a base price, but said that if you accept this software package we will give you a discount of $50. It's exactly the same thing, but if you say it the other way people would think they were getting a coupon for just accepting a little sanctioned crap. Oh well, close, but no cigar.




RE: And they were so close
By HackSacken on 3/21/2008 2:04:19 PM , Rating: 2
If I was over a marketing/sales department, I'd hire you. Good way of looking at it. :P


RE: And they were so close
By Inkjammer on 3/21/2008 2:06:38 PM , Rating: 2
Actually, I signed into my login to write just that...

I think this is just further proof that Sony ultimately doesn't understand consumers, what consumers want or how to reach out to them. And that's been Sony's problem for years now.


RE: And they were so close
By artemicion on 3/21/2008 3:25:35 PM , Rating: 2
I agree that it's a good idea from a consumer's viewpoint, but I'm inclined to think that Sony probably thought of it. But I'm sure the bloatware developers would want a chunk of their money back since setting the bloatware-free PC as the default, with opt-in available probably results in overall less PCs going out with bloatware.


RE: And they were so close
By jonrem on 3/21/2008 3:21:19 PM , Rating: 2
Just like the daycare fines vs. discounts in Freakanomics


RE: And they were so close
By watkinsaj on 3/21/2008 3:48:38 PM , Rating: 2
True, that looks better on the order form, but unless Sony cut their margins that would push the base price up. You would have fewer people looking at the laptop in the first place.


RE: And they were so close
By BMFPitt on 3/21/2008 8:41:17 PM , Rating: 1
Sony is pretty much saying, "This software sucks so bad, you have to pay $50 to get rid of it."


RE: And they were so close
By mindless1 on 3/22/2008 6:27:16 AM , Rating: 3
That wouldn't work, the base price is what draws consumers to take a closer look.


Bloatware is killing the PC industry
By Yawgm0th on 3/21/2008 2:40:55 PM , Rating: 5
The sheer volume of bloatware (including but not limited to trialware) on modern PCs is completely destroying the end-user experience. Much of the ill-feelings towards Vista are as much caused by poor OEM design as they are by Vista itself. Vista is unbearably slow on many, many modern computers not because they can't handle, but because they have a bunch of applications starting up with the computer and running in the background or system tray.

The big PC makers took an OS with inherently high overhead and a fair amount of varying technical problems (Vista) and make it much, much worse. Dual-core processors and high amounts of RAM are being used just to maintain a functional operating system reasonably (though they fail even in this task more often than not), rather than make it ridiculously fast and responsive.

A fresh install of XP or Vista on an X2 or Core 2 with 2GB of RAM and a 7200RPM HDD is ridiculous. It should boot in 10 seconds flat for XP, and maybe 20 for Vista. Even after you install basic applications and a good anti-virus program, there's little to no difference. As a Mac user might claim (usually erroneously ;) ) of their system, it really does "just work," and wonderfully at that.

But this is not the experience of the average PC user. No, I've encountered plenty of systems with quad-core processors and RAID 0 arrays who won't boast of even a mediocre experience.

Since Vista's release, I've found myself doing lots of work on PCs that had various issues, all generally relating back to performance. One of my favorite ones is PCs that can't play audio CDs or DVD-Video despite having the necessary hardware. Why? Because they've got 1GB of RAM, Vista Home Premium, and 20-30 extra applications (resulting in 40-60 extra processes). Even modern hardware, sadly, has issues with that kind of load. XP can actually handle that better than Vista, but that's neither here nor there.

Planned obsolescence is the term that comes to mind. A low-end dual-core processor with a couple GB of RAM is more than enough to run Vista and what's needed for the vast majority of end-users. By filling people's PCs with bloatware, the major OEMs provide the illusion that a PC could be much faster, and thereby increase the frequency with which people upgrade.

The worst part is that it's not all "trialware" or thinly-disguised advertisements paid for by software companies. Sadly, software licensed by or even developed or by the major OEMs that is meant to act as a legitimate feature or even a selling point is hurting the end-user experience the most. Trialware is extremely annoying, but the problem extends beyond far beyond trialware.

It's no surprise people are going to Macs. If you aren't highly knowledgeable yourself -- enough so to the point at which you're a hop, skip, and a jump away from being an entry level PC technician -- and you don't have someone to help you, you simply will not have a good experience with the vast majority of OEMs PCs out there. I guess it's nice of Sony to almost give you a decent experience with the hardware you paid for for a mere $50.

/rant




RE: Bloatware is killing the PC industry
By jonrem on 3/21/2008 7:50:44 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
One of my favorite ones is PCs that can't play audio CDs or DVD-Video despite having the necessary hardware. Why? Because they've got 1GB of RAM, Vista Home Premium, and 20-30 extra applications (resulting in 40-60 extra processes).


I recenly saw a Gateway advertised in a Fry's ad with a Core2Quad, Vista home premium, and 1 gig of ram for $549.00. What kind of experience do these companies think people are going to have with a system whose other parts are severely bottlenecked by a lack of memory? People who don't know better will buy this system without upgrading the RAM and bitch about how Vista or their C2Q sucks.


RE: Bloatware is killing the PC industry
By Chaser on 3/21/2008 8:53:09 PM , Rating: 2
Not everyone is sitting at their computers with a stop watch.


By jonrem on 3/22/2008 1:32:22 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah, an hourglass would be more appropriate


RE: Bloatware is killing the PC industry
By Chaser on 3/21/2008 8:38:18 PM , Rating: 2
Sure XP boots quickly. XP was released in October of 2001.

Vista is at the bottom of the hardware cycle in terms of performance. Can you imagine how quickly Vista will boot up with the hardware available 5-6 years from now?


RE: Bloatware is killing the PC industry
By Yawgm0th on 3/21/2008 9:38:26 PM , Rating: 2
Vista boots quickly, too. Before the OEM installs McAfee, Adobe, Roxio, fourteen different [manufacturer's] programs, a couple ISPs signup programs, and a trial version of a music service.

XP doesn't boot quickly or run well out of the box, either. Not unless you install Windows yourself.

The whole point is that the OS and the hardware are both perfectly capable of running reasonably well together, but PC builders are preventing that.


RE: Bloatware is killing the PC industry
By Chaser on 3/21/2008 11:05:14 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
A fresh install of XP or Vista on an X2 or Core 2 with 2GB of RAM and a 7200RPM HDD is ridiculous. It should boot in 10 seconds flat for XP, and maybe 20 for Vista.


Agreed bloatware sucks. But not everyone is a discriminating power user. Some people actually use some of the included junk stuff even though they don't understand how to subscribe or keep it up to date.

My point is with the exponential power that CPUs, memory, and emerging solid state hard drive technology etc I'll give you 5 seconds in 5 years with or without. See you then.


By mindless1 on 3/22/2008 6:30:37 AM , Rating: 2
You'd be right if OS wasn't getting bloated at a similar pace. Ever booted Win95 on the last generation of hardware with drivers that would support it? Boots like greased lightning.

Ever used such a system to run Win95? Greased lightning again. My point is that the hardware is not increasing in performance much if any faster than the OS or applications using it increase in bloat. You can work with larger data sets faster, or more demanding apps, that is where the real gain comes from.


Eh, kind of expected.
By HackSacken on 3/21/2008 1:48:39 PM , Rating: 3
Considering that Sony makes money from the people who want their trial-ware on the devices, you'd have to expect Sony to charge you to not have it on there to make up the lost cost.

As specified in the article, definately be more targeted towards business as opposed to home users. I'm assuming with most of you, you'd rather remove it yourself and keep your 50 bucks.

Still nice to see that Sony is listening.




RE: Eh, kind of expected.
By Lastfreethinker on 3/21/2008 2:03:08 PM , Rating: 2
I imagine it is a base fee that Sony charges and not a per-install. I only say this because Sony could easy fudge numbers and get an even greater pay day if you payed them per-install.


RE: Eh, kind of expected.
By mkrech on 3/21/2008 2:24:49 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Still nice to see that Sony is listening.

I disagree. If they were listening they would offer an option to include trial-ware for those interested and the rest of us could get the standard image free of the crap.

quote:
you'd have to expect Sony to charge you to not have it on there to make up the lost cost.

I assume you mean lost revenue... the additional cost to change their images is minimal and only a one time cost. The lost revenue from buyers like me who chose to buy other products that do not include the trial-ware is probably far greater.

The real issue here is not the cost of purchased trial-ware or the cost to change images. Trial-ware is essentially software spam. Sony probably gets revenue per device shipped with the trial-ware installed, as do probably most companies. Devices shipped without this "software spam" don't generate revenue from the companies paying to have their crappy trial-ware installed in the first place.

just my 2c

*side note*
I consider this to be similar to the forced marketing that other industries also employ. For example, I recently upgraded to a newer Verizon phone and service plan. Shortly after my upgrade I received a call from Verizon that played a recorded message offering me new services. Regardless of the fact that this call did not charge me any airtime, I do not pay for a service so that the service provider can spam me with unrequested marketing of additional services. I explained this to a Verizon customer service rep who made some change to my account and assured it would not happen again. We'll see.


update
By hlper on 3/21/2008 5:53:26 PM , Rating: 4
I was just cruising CNet and found this updated article saying that Sony has changed its plan to charge $50 and is offering the "Fresh Start" for free.

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9900516-1.html?ta...




Value Added!
By kyleb2112 on 3/21/2008 5:41:30 PM , Rating: 3
What's funny is that all this crap has been sold with phrases like "...software valued at over $1200 dollars!" And John Q public has largely bought it. Now they'll be charging extra to omit this treasure trove of software?

But then they are trying to keep it on the down low by limiting those eligible. It's like they've admitted the Emperor has no clothes, but don't want the commoners to catch on.




Update: Now Free
By EnzoFX on 3/21/2008 6:20:17 PM , Rating: 3
Do nothing, make 50 bucks!
By SlipDizzy on 3/21/2008 1:56:12 PM , Rating: 2
quote:

In the event a system recovery is necessary, there is no mention whether trial-ware will be installed when using the recovery partition/disc.


I was just about to ask this question. If I'm paying 50 dollars for them to not do something, then its best if they just give me an OEM copy of Windows with it.




I do this myself for free
By Domicinator on 3/21/2008 2:13:42 PM , Rating: 2
I build my own gaming PCs, but whenever I buy a laptop, the first thing I do is remove any software that I know doesn't belong on the machine and that I will never use. And I don't charge myself anything for that.




I wonder...
By nvalhalla on 3/21/2008 2:19:06 PM , Rating: 2
How much do I have to pay not to get any software? Can I get it without a HDD and CPU too? I'd gladly pay them an extra $500 for that. Is there an option on their website to send them money for them to not give me anything? I like paying money for nothing.




Why they do this
By Flunk on 3/21/2008 3:07:19 PM , Rating: 2
Sony (and other PC manufacturers) are actually paid by the companies that make that bloatware to include it on their new systems. Charging $50 seems like a complete ripoff to the consumer but on the Sony side they would be losing out on this if they didn't charge for it.

I am not defending Sony here, just mentioning why. I think this sucks too.




Why pay?
By Huron on 3/21/2008 3:10:49 PM , Rating: 2
I agree that PC makers do keep the price lower by loading all of the trial software.

There is a specific application that does this for FREE.

Check it out: http://pcdecrapifier.com/

Notice the name :)




My XP CD doesn't install crapware
By mattclary on 3/21/2008 3:17:07 PM , Rating: 2
Luckily, when I fdisk and install XP, I magically have no crapware to contend with.




By jackedupandgoodtogo on 3/21/2008 3:28:13 PM , Rating: 2
So, Sony makes the software makers pay to put their crap on their computers, and now they're charging the buyers of the computer money to take them off? How nice of them.




Just Imagine...
By Fnoob on 3/21/2008 5:41:21 PM , Rating: 2
...being charged .50c for 'NO MAYO' at McDonald's.




An admission of guilt
By DOSGuy on 3/22/2008 12:53:12 AM , Rating: 2
This is essentially an admission of guilt by Sony. For years, manufacturers have been advertising the extra value they offer by having their computers ship with free trial versions of software. Instead of offering to remove the trialware for free or for a small discount, Sony is charging $50. They're admitting that including this software doesn't add value to the product, it actually reduces the value of their product by $50! Brilliant.




By crystal clear on 3/22/2008 3:39:04 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Sony is now offering a new option dubbed "Fresh Start", which essentially means that trial-ware is not installed on a PC before it is shipped out. This option, however, is not free and comes at a fee of $50.


Now get ready for an update on the story.

I had a previously scheduled interview with Sony’s Mike Abary, Senior Vice President of the VAIO division.
In what must be the fastest turnaround in corporate history,
Abary told me that the $49.99 charge is dead.

“We didn’t intend that to happen,” he said, blaming the snafu on an internal miscommunication. “We’re removing the $49 charge,” he told me. Beginning this spring and rolling out to all products through the end of the year,
there will be no charge to order a custom-configured Sony VAIO computer, and you will be able to opt out of every trialware application, without exceptions.

“We heard the message loud and clear,” Abary told me. “VAIO is the poster child for negative experiences people had [with trialware]. We recognize that, and we acknowledge it. We’ve been really beat up by this issue. We’re listening and we’re taking action.”


http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=404

Breaking: Sony Won't Charge $50 To Remove Bloatware

When contacted by Gadget Lab, a spokesperson for Sony said that the company will now remove that charge.

"There will be no charge for Fresh Start," said the spokesman.


http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/03/sony-pay-an-...

Among the software included on TZ systems, which "Fresh Start" will remove, are the "specific VAIO applications," Microsoft Works Special Edition, trial versions of Microsoft Office and Corel Paint Shop Pro; and a crippled version of QuickBooks that can only track 20 customers.

Equipment manufacturers lose a revenue stream when they don't include the software. But that decision must be balanced against customers' desire for fast, cleanlyconfigured hardware.

"Which would you rather deal with: Loss of revenue or loss of customer satisfaction?"

Dell was one of the first PC manufacturers to offer to remove bloatware.




Oh what utter nonsense!
By mindless1 on 3/22/2008 6:34:13 AM , Rating: 2
Prior posters have no clue. Sony is not going to offer this as a break-even feature, if it made them no money they wouldn't have bothered to offer it. That's not how Sony (or many other businesses, I'm not trying to implicate Sony alone) does business.

Thus, they're making less than $50 buy including the software and considering the costs to offer a 2nd image without it. They offer this like a sound card upgrade, you choose it and they make more money.




PC Decrapifier
By nah on 3/22/2008 12:59:00 PM , Rating: 2
This program removes junk from laptops --and it's free. I've used it to great effect on 2 of mine.




Easy Solutiion
By fri2219 on 3/21/08, Rating: -1
RE: Easy Solutiion
By TerranMagistrate on 3/21/2008 2:37:01 PM , Rating: 2
Viao > Apple

So no.


RE: Easy Solutiion
By AntiV6 on 3/21/2008 3:16:30 PM , Rating: 4
I hate to be "that guy" but it is spelled Vaio.

:)


RE: Easy Solutiion
By Lonyo on 3/21/2008 3:18:28 PM , Rating: 2
Or another manufacturer's product who doesn't supply an endless amount of crap.
My MSI laptop came with Windows XP, and the only "crap" that was there wasn't installed. They had links to the installers on the desktop by default, but nothing was actually installed, and for the most part it was only things like PowerDVD anyway.

Just because people like Dell and Sony load up their PCs with crap doesn't mean everyone who isn't Apple does.


"Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment -- same piece of hardware -- paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that's a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be." -- Steve Ballmer









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