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Sony Offers Bloatware Removal Service — For a Fee [Updated]

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the scams-and-other-marketing-ideas dept.

linuxwrangler writes "First Sony packed its laptops with Microsoft Works, Microsoft Office trial version, Corel Paint Shop Pro trial version, WinDVD and more. Now it is offering to remove the bloatware. Of course marketing changed the name from 'removing the crap we stuck you with' to 'Fresh Start' software optimization. And they want you to pay $149.99 to clean up their mess — $49.99 for 'Fresh Start' on top of the required $100.00 Vista Business upgrade. You can get about $25.00 of that cost back if you select all available 'no-software' options which are only available after selecting the $149.99 'upgrade'. Wonder what they would charge to remove Windows completely." Update 11:57 GMT by SM: It seems that massive outrage at Sony's "Fresh Start" program has encouraged them to drop the fee for scrubbing your laptop of bloatware before shipping it your way.

18 of 231 comments (clear)

  1. PC Decrapifyer will not work? by Zymergy · · Score: 5, Informative

    I was assuming that PC Decrapifyer cleaned the plethora of extraneous Sony-specific applications, the list does not list one Sony item: http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/apps
    Still, is it is a very FREE and very Useful tool for new PCs.

    Another link OTFA:
    http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/21/sony-hates-you-offers-50-fresh-start-option-to-build-your-la/

    1. Re:PC Decrapifyer will not work? by strange+dynamics · · Score: 5, Insightful

      1. Thanks for the link. It's ironic that the link in the summary leads to an ad page. Any time a site shows a full page ad before the article I am trying to read, I immediately go back to try and send the message that I will not read their site if they insist on advertising that way.

      2. On topic: Although I completely disagree with sony's actions here, it makes sense that a computer without all the crap would cost more. A crap filled PC is subsidized by revenue from the crap vendors, a clean PC is not.

  2. How about a Vista rebate instead? by gnutoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why stop at removing "Works" when you could use Ubuntu? Wouldn't Sony then have to give you a rebate for the OS you did not use?

    You would be better off even if you wasted $149 on XP and used your old software. This option does not rule out a nice free software partition. I can't believe anyone will use the "fresh start" service.

  3. Don't let them charge you by Rinisari · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Instead of allowing them to charge you for removing Windows, simply don't accept the EULA and call Sony to get your money back. Research it online--there's been a lot of people who have been refunded the Microsoft tax for just a few hours of work.

    --
    Colin Dean Go a year without DRM
  4. Re:It should be by OrangeTide · · Score: 5, Funny

    How much does the option of not killing the family dog cost? I don't think I can afford the please-don't-rape-me option bundled with these products. I'm waiting for the version of a product with viruses loaded onto it to be $50 cheaper, that way you can undercut competitors in advertisements and with customers that buy purely on pricetag. Even though I suspect most customers try to roughly compare pricetag with features to come up with some squish concept of value when they make a purchase decision.

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  5. Headline INCORRECT by Buran · · Score: 4, Informative

    Sony will NOT be charging a fee.

    Sony Drops $50 Fee to Remove Useless Bloatware

    Oops.

    Next time, do your research to make sure you have the latest info, mmmkay?

    --
    i am a soviet space shuttle
  6. not to be a fan boy, but... by bwy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is one of the most refreshing things about a Mac- you don't have to reload the OS as soon as you buy the machine. I would NEVER use a preload version of XP or Vista. Never, ever, ever.

    I haven't seen what Ubuntu preloads look like from the likes of Dell. Hopefully, it is nice and clean and about what I would do if I installed it myself and got all the drivers working.

    1. Re:not to be a fan boy, but... by Animaether · · Score: 5, Interesting

      if you were a fan boy, you'd pretty much be a fan of "not that I have much choice in the matter".

      Yes, it's wonderful that Apple doesn't bloat up the default installations of Mac OS. Then again, it's not Microsoft that's bloating up the default installations either - it's the computer manufacturers. Apple is in the sweet position to be both the OS developer and the manufacturer + distributor of their computers.

      On the other hand, you -can- get a 'Windows PC' that doesn't have any bloat. You can get one that has internet-specific bloat. You can get one that has games-specific bloat (popular games server management stuff pre-installed), etc. You get a choice.
      Yes, I know, by far the majority of those choices will have -some- manner of bloat. But, again, you do get a choice.

      Personally I don't see why anybody would actively -choose- any sort of bloat, but maybe that's just because the appropriate bloat hasn't been presented to me yet. Let's say there was a 3D graphics computer that with pre-installed Blender, The Gimp / Cinepaint, InkScape, etc. I wouldn't particularly complain about that 'bloat'.

    2. Re:not to be a fan boy, but... by p0tat03 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Hate to rain on your party as a fellow Mac user... But that's not quite true. Macs come out of the box with a junkload of pre-load software. Granted, the quality of them far exceed the kind of apps you see bundled on Dells and Sonys, but nonetheless, MacOS X isn't quite so clean out of the box.

      Oh, and a clean install of OS X takes FAR less room than what you would see on a Mac out of the box. I've done it before. Things like Garage Band take up a huge amount of space, and while I do like the app, most users will probably never run it.

  7. As usual... by IANAAC · · Score: 5, Informative
    Slashdot's late to the party.

    Gizmodo is reporting that Sony have already stated that starting tomorrow the service will be free.

  8. Forget it. That's a good idea. by gnutoo · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is why it's a good idea to avoid brand new hardware from unfriendly companies like Sony. If it won't work with PCLinuxOS, Mepis or one of the Ubuntu live CDs, you don't want it. XP won't work either, which leaves you with Vista and hunting for the dozens of programs needed to make Windows useful. You might as well give up. Hardware that's just a year or two older or that's "low power" will perform better under free software than new hardware under Vista and software that does not break XP is going to get harder and harder to find.

  9. One of life's little axioms by Man+On+Pink+Corner · · Score: 4, Funny

    "If the answer involves giving money to Sony, you must have asked a really silly question."

  10. Partially honest. & how much is bloatware wort by klubar · · Score: 4, Interesting

    In some ways, Sony is at least being (partially) honest in that they explicitly price the removal. Other vendors hide the cost by wrapping bloatware free versions into specific models (for example, Dell's Vostos and Optiplex) don't have much bloatware, but are not exactly identical to an equivalent model.

    Does anyone know how much the vendors actually get for installing various trial versions?

    Also, there is some danger of one man's bloatware being another's convenience. For example is pre-installing Adobe Acrobat and Flash bloatware or value? How about Google toolbar? Firefox? And on down the line... iTunes?

    And, Macs aren't exactly bloatware free. Quicktime is a trial version with a nag screen to upgrade. Macs come with trial versions of Office (how much does Microsoft pay for that) and Omni outliner.

  11. Re:I wish, I wish by MojoStan · · Score: 4, Informative

    I wish, I wish I was a fish. And that we could buy computers without an OS if we chose to. Sure you can. You can buy Dell n Series computers without an OS installed, but with an obligatory copy of FreeDOS (not preinstalled). You're not really expected to install FreeDOS, but for some reason (maybe legal or contractual) Dell doesn't want to sell PCs without a bundled OS, so they bundle (but don't install) an OS that you're not expected to install. I wouldn't be surprised if other PC makers sold some computers (most likely business models) without an OS.
    --
    TO START
    PRESS ANY KEY

    Where's the 'ANY' key? I see Esk, Kitarl, and Pig-Up...

  12. Re:Control Panel - Programs - Programs and Feature by CaptainPatent · · Score: 4, Insightful

    To uninstall a program, select it from the list and click "Uninstall" I would like to make two points:
    1) Sony's own load images are to blame for much of the pre-installed adware and unnecessary bloat, why should there even be a fee in the first place to NOT install software?
    2) Often uninstall in Windows isn't as easy as clicking "uninstall" as you suggest. Because of the nifty Windows inventions such as the registry and protected system folders, uninstall is no longer what it used to be. Many times, programs leave traces in the registry which never come out and can still slow the computer, and even cause crashes down the road. If you never load undesired programs in the first place, you avoid this added risk altogether.

    I know not all programs take a merciless rampage through the registry and some uninstallers may be programmed without error, but lets face it, if any one programmer on a project left one registry entry undocumented, one system folder modification unchecked, one startup program off the uninstaller, you have a risk...
    now multiply that by the number of programmers on the projects...
    now by the amount of bloat you have on your system before it's removed...
    It may not be worth $50 to you or me even after all of that because we can easily reinstall, but to the average consumer it can be a lot more cumbersome.
    --
    Well, back to rejecting software patent applications.
  13. Re:Geez. forget it. by nogginthenog · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yes, but it's not much use if you don't have a driver for your network card!

  14. Re:I wish, I wish by Mad+Merlin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The truth is only the cheapest computers can be bought without an OS.

    Hmm... I just went onto Newegg.com and bought all the parts for a computer, the parts *I* wanted to be used, assembled them, and installed the OS of *my* choice.
    Wasn't difficult at all and didn't get stuck with cheap inferior merchandise.

    Why don't you try the same for a laptop and let us know how it goes?

    --
    Game! - Where the stick is mightier than the sword!
  15. Re:I wish, I wish by Mad+Merlin · · Score: 4, Informative

    You can also get Dells preloaded with Ubuntu (including in Canada, now!), just search their site for "ubuntu": http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/linux_3x?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

    --
    Game! - Where the stick is mightier than the sword!