What are all the ThinkXXXXX software is for?

Next week I'll be getting my brand new X201 and this will officialy and the DELL period of my life
As I already wrote in other posts, the first thing I will so is to change the 320 HDD in it to a 120GB SSD and will run a clean install. As I never had Thinkpads before, I dont know what are all of the programs offered for download on the Lenovo website are for... of course, besides the drivers. Please describe me what the the following apps do:
1. INTEL AMT
2. Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox
3. Corel BurnNow SD (is it just a simple burning software?)
4. Power Manager (Why is it better than the original Windows power managment?)
5. Lenovo SimpleTap (is it only for tablets or it add's support to multitouch touchpads too?)
6. Rescue and Recovery
7. ThinkVantage Access Connections
8. ThinkVantage Active Protection System - Airbag-like protection for your hard drive
9. ThinkVantage System Update 4.0 (I understand it's an autpupdater for the system things... does it take a lot of resrouces?)

In general, how good ThinkPad's "crapware" is? What should I install, what I shouldnt? Should I get the drivers from Lenovo's website (they are following the latest versions?) or should I got to the OEM sites (like getting drivers from Intel)?

 

1.- Advanced management tools by Intel, probably useless to a computer end user that is not using it in a corporation that utilizes AMT technology.

2.- Supposedly helpful tips and informational toolbox with access to many other Lenovo tools: this toolbox ties many of the ThinkVantage software applications together, although I find it useless. The blue button opens this up if it is installed.

3.- Disk burning software.

4.- The Power Management suite that has historically been installed on all Thinkpads. PM allows the computer to utilize many power saving features only present on Thinkpads that Windows cannot access, therefore improving battery life. It also has a more visible and accurate power level indicator than the stock Windows indicator. I would highly, highly suggest not removing PM.

5.- Have not heard of this, so I assume it's something to do with the touch/multitouch functionality.

6.- Lenovo's recovery program. Aside from using it to burn your recovery disks, you may or may not want to use R&R for your backups. Personally, I like the way Win7 handles backups, so I have no use for it.

7.- A wireless connection manager. Used to be very useful, with the cumbersome and limited wireless functionality in XP, however it's not too useful for me in Win7, so I do not use it. That said, there are some advanced connectivity options that you may find helpful. Play around with it and see if it has any useful features for you.

8.- Automatically parks the hard drive based on the accelerometer on the Thinkpad motherboard. With this program, any conventional hard drive gains the ability to sense drops and park its head, thereby protecting your data from damage from the fall. If you have an SSD, this should be uninstalled.

9.- An auto-updater. Very handy if you want to check for latest drivers but do not want to waste time looking each individual one up. As long as you don't run it in the background all the time, it has no impact on system performance. That said, don't trust TVSU 100%, as in, make sure you always read what it's installing. You may not need everything it wants to install, and it is therefore your job to untick what you don't need (which, for me, is nearly all the updates it suggests). Still, it's a helpful tool, especially after a clean install, to install the drivers you need and the ThinkVantage software you want.

Lenovo's drivers are pretty good, aside from their graphics drivers, from my experience. Everything is very up to date and reliable/stable, but the graphics drivers are often out of date. Check the forums to find out drivers other users are using.