CTRL ZONE: Microsoft's concern with craplets and Vista

On the CBC Canadian news site there is an article, "'Craplets' could damage Vista launch: Microsoft exec", that quotes a senior Microsoft Exec as saying:

"the company is concerned that uncertified third-party software loaded onto new computers by manufacturers could hurt the launch of consumer versions of its Windows Vista operating system later this month."

I am sure this has been a concern of Microsoft's for sometime, at least as long as the PC manufacturers have been putting these applications on the PC's they manufacture. These "craplets" or "crapware" have been a nuisance to most users for sometime. The unlimited amount of software that can cause more problems than they are worth or those applications that are trial-ware that even when removed are not always totally gone. Either way it is a nuisance that most PC manufacturers have been aware of via the complaints from their customers for countless reasons. However, most of these complaints from the consumer have fallen on deaf ears as these applications remain and seem to grow and change from year to year as the manufacturer's decide what would be best for the consumer in terms of software or which application developer's can bargain to squeeze their program on these new machines.

In regards to the trial-ware...why?...why would you put trial-ware on a new pc anyway? I would go as far as saying that the trial-ware causes more issues in the end than the crapware does by far. How many users panic when they see the alert that they have reached the end of their trial period? How many people ignore the warnings until the software is disabled? Or until the user decides to get rid of this nagging software by uninstalling it? Hell...I have seen many machines that when the nag screen starts...the user, thinking they are some expert on PC's, opts to delete the directory in %local drive%\Program Files\ thinking this removed it. Again...you begin to see where the problems stem from in regards to trial-ware specifically. Finally...why would you distribute a trial-ware antivirus program...at least give out a freeware antivirus application. I do wonder how many infected machines or the proliferation of virus' could have been put down by a freeware alternative antivirus to the trialware that is being put on these pc's.

It sucks that people don't have as much say in what crap/trial-ware these pc manufacturers put on a machine you are buying. They ought to at the very least give you the option to pick what you want in this area as they do in what hardware you get. Anyhow...there is an application to kill some of this stuff....it is called THE PC DECRAPIFIER and it seems to work pretty well...so give it a try. You can also help secure your machine from the bad stuff by using some of the freeware listed below and if you know of any others...by all means share some info :P Check ya!

PC DECRAPIFIER from Yorkspace