Sony won’t charge $50 to remove bloatware after all. Sort of…
They still don't get
it.
Responding to a tidal wave of outrage, Sony has reversed a plan to charge $50 to remove all the pre-installed applications — often derided as “bloatware” or “craplets” — from its high-end TZ-series notebooks.
Early Friday, PC World reported that Sony would charge $50 for a configuration option called “Fresh Start,” which would not include the bloatware. When contacted by Gadget Lab, a spokesperson for Sony said that the company will now remove that charge.
“There will be no charge for Fresh Start,” said the spokesman.
Like many notebook manufacturers, Sony preloads its notebooks with anti-virus, anti-spyware and other useful software. Problems arise when such applications swiftly expire, offer limited functionality, or result in poor system performance–or when there is simply so much of it that it cannot be easily removed.
Fresh Start will now be a no-cost option on Sony’s slick subnotebooks, - but - only for those who opt for Windows Vista Business Edition, a $100 upgrade.
Golly gee. That’s thoughtful of them.
How much of the Upgrade gets kicked back by Microsoft? Could it be - $50?
Posted: Sat - March 22, 2008 at 05:38 AM