« Weight a minute | Main | Swivelling monitors »
Unwanted software
I have had the misfortune to receive new PCs from Hewlett Packard recently.
Don't get me wrong, the build quality is good, and the warranty and support excellent, but they have submitted to a demand from Microsoft that a trial version of Office 2007 is installed on all new PCs.
If a button labelled "Uninstall Office 2007" were prominently displayed on the desktop this would not be so bad, but in truth, getting rid of this unwanted software is a real pain. Add to this Symantec antivirus software and other so called added value programs, and you find it can take an hour or two to prune the PC back to what you need before starting to configure it for your own requirements.
PC builders should have an option on the order form to allow buyers to request a "Windows only" installation so the PC is as virgin as possible when they receive it.
Microsoft owe me for enough of my life already without imposing yet more time wasting options on brand new PCs.
Colin Ferrington
Be careful removing "unwanted" software. Someone on a forum removed the "Bloatware" on an acer laptop including the software responsible for the bluetooth adapter and couldn't get it working despite installing the drivers. Dumb muppet
Posted by Ian | October 28, 2007 9:11 PM