Comments on: Dell: “No Bloatware, Please”

By: Laura Gustafson

Laura Gustafson — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 03:10:45 +0000

I paid the extra $10 to get the Windows OS disk, wiped my hard drive and did a fresh install. Good thing, since despite my request to not have McAfee loaded it was anyway. Dell needs to realize they could keep many of their customers happier by truly offering a PC free of junk applications.

By: Rick

Rick — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 16:07:32 +0000

Try getting Dell to sell you a PC without Windows. I ordered an E1505 Notebook but requested that it come without an operating system. I would have been nice if I didn’t have to pay for an OS that I wasn’t going to use. I’m not anti-Microsoft, I just administer Linux business systems for a living and I’m very comfortable with that OS. I was told there is “No Way” that they can do that. I could put in a special request to have my notebook sent to me without anything loaded on the hard drive, but this would delay the shipping date and I would still have to pay for Windows anyway.

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 01:54:49 +0000

In Response to Kirt:

I wholeheartedly agree with your comment, except with the following statement:

“When you bought that machine you also obtained a license to run ONE copy of Windows on A PC. Not that particular pc necessarilly.”

When you buy a PC with a volume OEM license, you are purchasing a license to run ONE copy of Windows on THAT specific PC. It cannot legally be transferred. Here’s a website that I found where this guy is tracking what’s going on with XP OEM volume licenses…

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/oemeula.htm
here’s another link:
http://discuss.fogcreek.com/joelonsoftware/default.asp?cmd=show&ixPost=128390

Obviously OEM PC manufacturers get a steep discount on Microsoft licenses and this is in part because they are non transferable.

By: Kirt E. Stockwell

Kirt E. Stockwell — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 16:07:00 +0000

I have been seeing a lot of misinformation regarding wiping and or restoring commercially loaded pcs such as dell and hp. The concensus seems to be that you have to buy a new copy of winxp if you want a clean load. Also confusion about the restore cd sets or restore partitions.

Some tima ago Microsoft began requiring that the authentication sticker be placed on the machine. ANY pc that has the 25 digit code can be reloaded with ANY copy of winxp that is the same set (such as winxp, winxp-pro, xp-64, etc.) and this is not only technically clean but completely legal. When you bought that machine you also obtained a license to run ONE copy of Windows on A PC. Not that particular pc necessarilly. I frequently decommission dead pcs with viable licenses, build new chassis and load using the original license code and we’re back in business. As for the de-crapifier, I say THANK YOU and hey DELL, GET A CLUE!

A joyous day to all!
Doctor_K

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 15:36:27 +0000

In Response to Chris Hays,

It’s a fair comment and question. I agree, if I’m saving *hundreds* of dollars. I would guess that there probably isn’t a per PC kickback to Dell. It’s probably some overall contract that they have. For example, say AOL pays Dell XX million dollars to put their app on all of their Dimension desktops for the next two years. AOL statistically estimates how much business they think they will get based on that.

If you did do a per PC cost calculation, I would assume it’s on the order of tens of dollars and not hundreds. This leads people to the thought that they would be willing to pay the extra $20 to not have it. However, AOL (in the above example) doesn’t care, they have a contract and they want it on your PC anyway.

So, I think it takes a whole business model change to get rid of the bloatware and that is why they are so slow to changing. They need to re-negotiate the contracts with all of their “suppliers” if they are motivated to move to a pay per PC model. Plus if you give the option, the words gets out and everyone says “uncheck that box.” Then none of the suppliers want to be on Dell computers, so they’ll find someone else… I think it’s one of those things where you just need to get the whole industry to just stop it.

(I’m completely speculating on all of this)

– Jason

By: Chris Hays

Chris Hays — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 15:14:50 +0000

Does anyone know how much Dell actually makes on these trial software deals?

I ask because they have great prices, and bloatware is probably part of the reason. If I’m saving hundreds of dollars and all I have to do spend an hour uninstalling software, I’ll take that trade-off.

Sorry to swim against the tide of public opinion on this site!

By: The Ty

The Ty — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 18:14:51 +0000

Here here! Well said and in a perfect world, they should

But never underestimate the almighty power of the advertising dollar. Exactly how much are they getting for “pre-installing” all of this crap software into the machine? AOL seems to think it works, even if it is less than 1 in 10 users that click on that icon at all. I am sure that is a high revenue source or they simply wouldn’t do it, it is more work for them to configure a system with all this bloatware on it. Capitalism in big business, looking at the dollar signs and not at what the customer wants or needs.

Oh, and kudoes on a legal department homing in on you! Cheers!