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Lenovo Saying Goodbye To Bloatware

Posted by Soulskill on from the time-to-start-demanding-other-vendors-follow-suit dept.

An anonymous reader writes: "Lenovo today announced that it has had enough of bloatware. The world's largest PC vendor says that by the time Windows 10 comes out, it will get rid of bloatware from its computer lineups. The announcement comes a week after the company was caught for shipping Superfish adware with its computers. The Chinese PC manufacturer has since released a public apology, Superfish removal tool, and instructions to help out users. At the sidelines, the company also announced that it is giving away 6-month free subscription to McAfee LiveSafe for all Superfish-affected users.

11 of 210 comments (clear)

  1. Subscription to what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    More superfish?

    1. Re:Subscription to what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      BetaNews article says: McAfee LiveSafe security suite

  2. Bloatware?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    I don't understand why people call it "bloatware". This helpful software does many useful things for the user. It essentially subsidizes your $1000 computer into a more affordable $500 or so machine!

    The manufacturer gets money for the installation, and you get helpful software that reduces your costs!

    What would people do without search aggregators, browser toolbars, download accelerators, etc?

    Maybe people should pay the full cost of the software that comes on their machines. Suddenly your "bargain" $350 "bloats" up to a $700. How about paying the full cost for Windows? How about paying the full cost for say hotmail access?

    Software isn't , and shouldn't always be "free".

    There should be an option for a "bloat" free computer, with the user paying the full cost for software.

    1. Re:Bloatware?! by Eponymous+Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You are overestimating the "value" of the bloatware by an order of magnitude. That $350 computer will now be $385, not $700.

    2. Re: Bloatware?! by mrchaotica · · Score: 4, Funny

      Pay them to not fill your brand new machine with crap? Name another market where you do that...

      "Natural" vs. regular processed foods.

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    3. Re:Bloatware?! by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I've shopped at a small boutique dealer for years for my desktop PCs, and they pride themselves on excellent quality, customization, and customer service. They'll install Windows, Ubuntu, or even no OS at all, and naturally, no crapware in sight. The QA they put each custom machine through is also impressive, and you can actually watch your machine as it goes through the process.

      That sort of quality still exists if you look around a bit, and are willing to pay for it. I haven't done any real price matching, as it's hard to make perfect apples-to-apples comparisons (for instance, other chains often don't tell you the exact motherboard model or what type of power supplies they use), but you do certainly pay considerably more than the typical computers you'd find at Dell or other large chains. Totally worth it to me though.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    4. Re:Bloatware?! by mattventura · · Score: 4, Insightful

      To the contrary, I love bloatware because it means other people are subsidizing my PC that I'm going to be installing a fresh OS upon receiving anyway.

  3. Well...not ALL bloatware. by Scutter · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We are starting immediately, and by the time we launch our Windows 10 products, our standard image will only include the operating system and related software, software required to make hardware work well (for example, when we include unique hardware in our devices, like a 3D camera), security software and Lenovo applications.

    So, you're still going to be shipping it with trial versions of bloatware McAfee or bloatware Norton or whatever, plus your Lenovo-branded applications (which are really just re-branded bloatware ad-servers disguised as "handy applications for running your 3D camera!"). In other words, it'll be "bloatware-free" except for all the bloatware you're still going to pre-load onto it. Thanks, Lenovo!

    --

    "Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
  4. Utilities by flanders123 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've always wondered why manufacturers reinvent the wheel when it comes to bundled utilities. Why does Lenovo develop its own power controls, wireless manager, driver updater, display management, etc when there are standard OS utilities to handle these things? Isn't it sort of a waste of their time? It's always fun when the 3rd party utils start fighting with the native OS tools for control.

  5. Genius. by hey! · · Score: 3, Funny

    CEO: This Superfish incident has put our credibility in the toilet. Even corporate customers are looking askance at us now, and we didn't put it on their computers. Suggestions?

    Executive 1: Lay low until it blows over.

    Executive 2: Hire a new PR firm.

    Executive 3: Start a social media campaign.

    Genius executive: Maybe we should promise not to do stuff like that anymore.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    1. Re:Genius. by swillden · · Score: 4, Informative

      Genius executive: Maybe we should promise not to do stuff like that anymore.

      Super-genius executive: Maybe we should promise not to do stuff like that any more, but exempt "security software and Lenovo applications". That way we can continue getting paid by McAfee and others to continue loading their stuff, as long as they don't mind us slapping our logo on it.

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.