Thinkpads Forum

preloaded software now includes

Google Toolbar
Google Desktop
Picasa from Google

cool!

and also Diskeeper Lite? any idea what this is?

a_d_y_a wrote:preloaded software now includes

Google Toolbar
Google Desktop
Picasa from Google

cool!

and also Diskeeper Lite? any idea what this is?

I don't think it's that cool. Not everyone needs them right?

I agree! The less "plug-ins", "plug-ons" and "plug-thingies" that they include...the better!

This was always a huge positive for me, when purchasing a thinkpad; everyone else had so many things installed it would take you years just to try them all!!

TP's were always as close as a "clean" os as you could get!

IMHO; I decide what I want as far as "goddies", not the manufacturer!!

Diskeeper is a disk defrag program. I used to like it a lot until one time after I used it and Windows wouldn't boot up any more.

I installed the trial version of it, when I removed it; my defrag (windows) would no longer work.

I tried everything their customer service line told me to try, I had to re-format the drive and re-install the OS!!!

Today I use DK version 8!

Preloaded Google stuff? I don't like it. At all.

Google junk = glorified spyware.

http://www.google.com/support/toolbar/? ... =3.0&hl=en

i said it is good because

1. people dont know about picasa, it is very good and it can use all the exposure it can get.

2. most power users are going to reformat anyway. I will, and pretty sure everyone posting in this thread will too.

I didn't reformat my T42 and I wouldn't reformat it if it came with Google junk. I'd just uninstall the Google junk.

The thing is up until now Thinkpads wouldn't come preloaded with software that's "good for you", only with the tools of the Thinkpad itself (Access Connections, APS, Power Profiles, etc). Putting Google stuff in is a statement, and I don't like that statement.

Yea, I have to agree I think this is bogus. I definately didn't reformat my Thinkpad when I received it, but I would remove this software...I guess it's another tip of the hat to the consumer market...

I personally wouldn't mind having the Google software on my PC because I would likely download it anyways. Plus I'm sure it's quite easy to remove off your PC if indeed you don't need/want it.

Oh and I was reading this article on CNN/Money (http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/02/technol ... /index.htm) about how IBM and Google might partner together...if that happens, I'm pretty sure we'll see more Google stuff on our IBM's. I'm guessing this is just the start...

I've seen google desktop and I think it could be useful... not a big fan of the toolbar because it takes up browser window space.

I do like Picasa though. Windows XP doesn't have a good photo management system and Picasa does a pretty good job. Plus you can set Picasa not to run any resource sucking processes in the background.

I'm all for NOT having Lenovo add more programs to the standard boot image. I'd rather just download the software myself.

The Google thingies don't excite me; the only thing I have downloaded from Google that I actually liked is Google Earth.

What I do like, however, is the Diskeeper defrag program; it might have been better if they had included the full version. Whoever decided to offer the Diskeeper Program to IBM/Lenovo should have offered the full version; it seems a bit bizzare to me to put a trial version, that you could download yourself, instead of the full version on a new system.

I bet it is one of the many moves Lenovo is making to turn the desktop/laptop business profitable.

How much profit do you get off of that stuff?

IBM has, to some extent, done it as well; I read something awhile back that said Google was looking to pre-package that stuff with most computer systems that shipped. IBM/Lenovo, plus some of the other computer makers, must have just gone along with it without thinking twice.

In any case, those would come off the first day I would use a T60; they really provide very limited functionality (like the Firefox plugin that allows you to *download a *.pdf to disk*, nevermind you can do the same thing with a right mouse click.) with higher overhead.

I think they get money for installing that stuff...if that makes the Thinkpad cheaper...

I prefer no software installed, so no Windows either. I buy the hardware. I am not interested in the software, and I don't want to pay for that Windows license.

@SpaRood: I agree. Windows XP should be optional, though the integration of the drivers and helpers seems to be just great.

The first thing I did was removing the Symantec and Google stuff. I'd like to decide by myself what software is installed. The less software the faster the OS.

What else would you guys remove What needs to be installed

I installed AntiVIR as virus scanner and use the Win XP firewall.

Agreed, the Symantec AV make the system sooooooo sloooow.

I don't like any software besides the ThinpPad packages. Even After a Windows XP install, I make so may tweaking on it, let the choice of packages alone.

Well, My opinion is that preloading so many softwares is not essential to us salted computer users, but it avails those throng businessmen to increase their operating efficiency.

Hamid wrote:Agreed, the Symantec AV make the system sooooooo sloooow.

Otherwise, the Symantec AV can be used for only one year, that's feeling too bad, so I cut it as soon as I got my X32.

I believe Google paid Dell, Lenovo and others a huge sum of money to preload that junk.

I'd google "uninstall"

I'm in the camp of hardware makers selling hardware with good "drivers" and not messing around with software. With bundled software we are paying over and over again for the same software. How many license of a cd writer program do I need. And don't get me started on the Windows tax...

This is a very sad statement Lenovo is making. Personally I would prefer if the user was given an option to install or not. When I first got my TP I checked out the various programs what I didn't need I just uninstalled. The only problem with this is that some traces of these programs are left behind and will eventually affect the performance of the system.

As others have noted, the hardware manufacturers get paid to pre-load the bloatware. Upshot is they can price systems cheaper and make the same profit margin.

As much as you may dislike the software that your machine comes with, how many of you would really shell out more $$$ for an otherwise identical laptop that didn't come pre-loaded with the extra junk? I don't know how much it works out to per machine, but if for the sake of argument, it's $100, I know I would prefer the cheaper machine and I'll get rid of the extra software.

Of course, in an ideal world, the manufacturers would offer you 2 versions of the same hardware spec - 1 with extra software, 1 without. But until that happens, there's not much point in complaining about the junkware that allowed you to buy a cheaper laptop. Can't have your cake and eat it too. If you don't like the stuff, uninstall it, or if you're like many of us in this forum, you'll wipe the disk and start from scratch.

I agree with the point made earlier about WinXP - this we are forced to pay for, and it really should be optional, but that's not gonna happen anytime soon either.

I'm not sure I buy the argument that preinstalling this software saves us money. Yes Google no doubt paid Lenovo to have this stuff preinstalled. But:

1) Who's to say Lenovo didn't just pocket the money? They're a business after all. The price of the ThinkPad, I think, is determined (as it is for all products) by what the market will bear. Lenovo is going to charge as much as they think they can. And if they can pocket some extra money from Google, so much the better. I don't see why Lenovo would turn around and drop the price on the ThinkPad if they didn't have to.

1a) In fact, think of it this way. Lenovo has something to sell Google, an audience. That doesn't mean they're doing anything in turn for us. We're just a captive audience (because we likely want the ThinkPad anyway). No doubt many people even perceive the Google stuff as adding value to the computer. So Lenovo leverages every element of value out of their product. It's not for us. It's for them to make money any way they can.

2) On a broad social-economic level, we all, more or less, buy stuff that advertises on Google. That's how Google gets it's money to go and pay Lenovo. So in the end we're all paying for this stuff anyway. Often people argue that advertising makes things cheaper. But I think it's the opposite. We all pay for the advertising in the long run, in the prices of the goods that use advertising (most of them). Since "free" stuff is advertising, ultimately we're paying for it too. It's all part of our economy and we're all paying to support it. So the more junk out there that none of us want but we get anyway, the more junk that ultimately we're paying for. On a broad global scale, nothing's free.

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Needless to say, I agree that all the bloatware on the ThinkPads is annoying. Even some of the ThinkVantage stuff seems redundant to me: EasyEject, Access Connections, Power Manager, ThinkPad Configuration. Mostly they duplicate functionality already in Windows.

It would be cool if the system prep has a choice at some point for a "typical" or "custom" install, like on a lot of program installers. The semi-power users like myself (who had trouble with the clean install method) could check off exactly what they do and do not want. That would be good also, because it would be a nod to the power users on Lenovo's part, to keep up their image of being a more serious computer.

donking! wrote:Needless to say, I agree that all the bloatware on the ThinkPads is annoying. Even some of the ThinkVantage stuff seems redundant to me: EasyEject, Access Connections, Power Manager, ThinkPad Configuration. Mostly they duplicate functionality already in Windows.

I agree, 'mostly'.

I'd like to stick up for Access Connections. While I think the new version (4.x) is utter crap compared to the prevous (3.x), it is the only way I can roam between 4 different networks every work week and maintain sanity. It not only sets your wireless config, but stores your wired config, dialup, default printer, file sharing, etc. in its profiles. Though I can understand that this could be overkill for some people, I thank heaven that IBM thought it worthy to spend the time developing it.