jeffo

by Lee Koo - CNET Community

Some people call it shovelware; some call it crapware or
bloatware. But whatever it's called, I personally despise preinstalled software on new computers.

To start, let me define in my own words what it is.
"Shovelware" is software (be it trial ware, promotional ware, whatever) that is shoveled onto your new PC whether you like it or not. "Crapware" is software preinstalled on your new system that the majority of us will find useless. And, last but not least, "bloatware" is shovelware or crapware that uses up your PC's system resources right out of the box; to me, this is the worst offender. Now that I have given you my definitions, let's get started.

In his Crave blog, CNET editor Matthew Elliott gives us his rant on shovelware that is preinstalled on many major PC manufacturers' systems. And after reading his blog, I couldn't agree more. Of course, I know that big-name manufacturers earn a few bucks by bundling these software programs on their systems and are therefore able to offer consumers lower-priced systems. However, I find that the majority of the stuff they offer is just clutter and a drain on machine resources, which is personally not appealing, and also many times a headache and time-consuming to remove. If I buy a new system, I'm one of those folks who likes to start out with a clean slate--this is one major reason why I like to build my own desktop--because I dictate what goes into my machine, rather than having others recommend something I probably will find useless anyway.

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9743424-1.html?tag=nl.e497