What software does Fresh Start eliminate? What do you still get?

The title really says it all. I'm seriously contemplating a Vaio F22. I generally like as little bloatware as possible, but I want to make sure I don't miss out on any software that improves the machine's functionality. So what exactly does the "Fresh Start" option eliminate? What, if anything, do I still get with it besides Windows and hardware drivers?

Edit: for example, since it's not clear from the configure-your-own page: do I still get the Adobe bundle if I choose the Fresh Start option?

 

I only know that if you choose the fresh start option, you won't get the Adobe Bundle

note : CMIIW

 

That would surprise me, as the description of the "Fresh Start" option says:

Adobe Bundle, like Microsoft Office Starter, is listed separately from the Fresh Start option on the configure-your-own page (page 2), so I was thinking that they would remain. But I'm not positive.

To contrast, for the antivirus software option, the four options say:

The italicized phrase that appears with the Norton 30-day trial doesn't appear with the Adobe Bundle. So it looks to me that if you choose Fresh Start, you should get the Adobe Bundle and Office Starter, but no antivirus software or anything else. Of course, that doesn't mean that's how it actually works; it's just how I'm interpreting the webpage.

 

When you configure the F series with the Fresh Start option it shows you that the Adobe Bundle is still included but the Norton Anti-Virus is not.
Interesting that Sony doesn't offer the new Z with the Adobe Bundle since it's their flagship.

 

Awesome--I missed that. Thanks! I wanted Photoshop Elements, so I was hoping I wouldn't miss out on it by doing Fresh Start.

 

You may miss out on things like Picture Motion Browser though.

I'd recommend to let it come bloated, then try a clean install using the recovery discs. I dunno if the process is anything like what it is for the F1's though.

 

Does Picture Motion Browser do anything better than I could do between Picasa and the Adobe Bundle? I had been planning on just using Picasa and/or Photoshop Elements, but it's better to know beforehand if I'm missing out on something really handy.

 

PMB is proprietary Sony software. I, think it's actually kinda nice, because you can link it to quite a few external programs and stuff. It's a good tool. If it comes with a standard install, you should take it.

Fresh installs do not have the same recovery partition containing Sony software that regular installs have. If you don't get the software, there's some that you can never get.

 

Another question. With Fresh Start, would I get the "Vaio Control Center" that you can use to control the behavior of the keyboard backlighting?

 

Yes you will get ALL the sony utilities... I don't know if this is true of the F22, but for most people getting the Z1, the bloat was manageable... just uninstall a few programs and you're done.

 

I would also suggest not doing Fresh Start and either doing a clean install on your own or just removing unwanted programs. I did a clean install on my F13 and have not installed any of the extra software but I know that if I want or need something, I can have it on my computer in a matter of minutes and at no cost. The two people I know who did Fresh Start later were wishing they had some of the software that was included but did not have access to it and Sony will not give it to them. I don't see any reason to pay $50 (for Windows Pro) to have fewer options. Even if you were already going to get the Pro edition for some other reason, doing Fresh Start and getting less software would only make sense to me if there were no way to remove what you didn't want, which isn't the case. And yes you get all the utilities like VCC with Fresh Start but not non-utility Sony software like Media Gallery and PMB.

 

I opted not to have Fresh Start on my F21 and there really wasn't much (in my opinion) that really had to be removed. Looking back, I really only had to remove the trial edition of Norton and kept the few Sony programs (Gate, Messenger, and PMB [I'll second that it's a nice program], for example).

This is in comparison to my older Vaios which had a lot more "obtrusive" extras, by the way.

 

Isn't Vaio Gate just duplicative of pinning your favorite programs to the taskbar? That's what I did on my work machine. I pinned Outlook, my timecard program, Word, IE9, Firefox, and iTunes to the taskbar, and thus can launch each of them with a single click.

But I want people to know that I'm not trying to be difficult or stubborn here, it's just asking these questions helps me understand better what I'd be giving up. I couldn't find a summary of all the Vaio software on the Sony US page, but I did find this. Is it a comprehensive list of the proprietary Vaio software I wouldn't be getting with Fresh Start?

VAIO Software : Sony

 

VAIO Gate basically gives you more room to pin things without filling up your whole taskbar with pinned programs. It also has an RSS feed that can be turned off. So no it's not necessary unless you want to pin a lot programs -I don't know why anyone would want the RSS feed but I suppose someone must. My F also had Evernote on it in addition to those programs. And I think you have separate CTO options for anti-virus and Office and the separate Adobe software. That's all that comes to mind. I'll edit this if I think of something else but I no longer have any of it on my computer so it's hard to remember. I'm not even on my computer right now to look at what programs I could install. Oh there's some PlayStation related stuff I never paid attention to since I don't have one.

 

+1 rep all around for all the helpful replies.

I'm still leaning toward Fresh Start, because after reading through each Vaio program, I've said to myself, "well I was already planning on using _________ instead for that functionality." (Picasa and/or Photoshop Elements for managing photos, iTunes for managing music, pinning programs for quick-launching them, MSE and Windows utilities for maintenance, etc). And for me, paying an extra $50 is worth it for not having to hassle around with a fresh install of Windows, reinstalling drivers, etc when I first get the machine. I'd rather just start using it! (Lazy, I know).

But at least this way, I've made a fully informed decision, not just a "gah, bloatware, gah!" gut reaction. Thanks everyone.

Edit: it's telling me I've given too much rep in the past 24 hours...but the sentiment is there, everyone!