Regarding DELL's and Vista's bloatware.

I've read all over the internet how some people, upon buying a branded laptop/notebook, immediately format and reinstall Vista in order to drop some of the bloatware that comes pre-installed, taking up resources.

How prudent is this practice with regards to DELL's laptops - in particular the XPS 16? I imagine a lot of the bloatware can easily be removed using Vista's add/remove utility; however some people seem to have trouble completely getting rid of some DELL security software.

Can anyone chime in with some numbers? Comparisons?

 

I'm not sure about the Studio 16, but with my M1730 there was zero bloatware. Dell became really good about that and eliminated almost 100% bloat 2 years ago.

Bloatware was born with eMachines. Most manufacturers do not add unwanted trial apps these days since they tend to muck things up and cause issues to begin with.

I wouldn't worry much - if you feel better about it, just reinstall the OS.

 

Even if there was some installed, it is all easily uninstalled.

I've never personally come across a new notebook that didn't have software on it that I uninstalled the first day. This includes the old T42 and T43 models that I've worked with for a long time and came stripped down with XP. Maybe it's just me, but there's always something. I expect it, so it's not a big deal at all.

 

I'm not sure on the XPS 1640..maybe a smidgen??

I will always do a *clean install* on my lappy upon receipt..to make it completely *mine* and format it the way I want it, either way!

It's just a habit! I think the newer lappys these days don't as have as much as the old lappy's per se!

Cin..