Digital Home Thoughts: Are You Willing to Pay for a Lean, Mean, Brand New Machine?

"We're talking about bloatware, and it's an issue that we simply cannot remain silent on any longer. It's a very, very real problem, and it has been for years. But we always assumed that things would improve as the "fad" faded. Sadly, we assumed wrong. The fad hasn't faded, and dare we say, things have become even less bearable over time."

Being the "Go-to" guy for many friends and family when it comes to computers, I see this situation often. Someone gets a brand new computer and when they first start up, their computer already has a wild range of programs already installed. It usually takes quite a while and several reboots to pare the thing down to just the essentials. It has become such a regular task for many techies that it has given birth to programs like the PC DeCrapifier.

Unfortunately, as much as it might annoy, it does serve a real purpose, and that is subsidizing that shiny new toy you just bought. Many software companies will often pay a fee to get the trial version of their software on a new computer in hopes that you, or someone down the road, will change that trial into a happy full version of the program. That fee lowers the cost of that laptop you just bought for the same price as a Happy Meal.

In all honesty, I think the sheer computing power of most new notebooks and desktops these days can usually chew through many of the bloatware programs that manufacturers impose on us. And you always have the option of removing them fairly easily. If it makes computers more accessible to people, through lower prices, I am for it. Besides, give your typical person 6 months and they will have installed far more bloatware than any manufacturer could conceive!

Are you the clean-up guy? What tools do you have in your kit to remove computers of these power sucking programs?