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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.

9 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. 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
  3. 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
  4. 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'.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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!