From: mike 


http://news.com.com/2100-1012_3-6179323.html

===
When large businesses buy new PCs, they often wipe the hard drives clean
and install a fresh copy of Windows, along with the other software they
want workers to have.

Some consumers, frustrated with all of the trial software, desktop icons
and other stuff that comes loaded on their machines, are doing the same
thing.

However, what works for businesses isn't always so easy for individuals.
Many computers don't actually come with a clean copy of the operating
system. Instead, many ship with a "recovery partition" or a
recovery disc that restores the system back to the way it shipped--with all
that extra software.

Some PC makers, like Gateway and Dell, say they do offer consumers a disc
with just Windows, allowing them to do a clean install of the operating
system, should they choose to do so. [without the hardware-specific drivers
needed for the system - /m] Others, like Hewlett-Packard and Sony, use a
"system restore" option. HP said it does so to help facilitate
product support.

"HP's support experience relies on many of the diagnostics and tools
that are specific to the software image provided," a company
representative said in an e-mail. "In order to provide this support
experience, the system is restored to factory specifications."

Apple also uses a system restore option on Macs, though its machines ship
with only two trial programs, iWork and Microsoft Office, along with the
full versions of iLife and a handful of other third-party titles. [and,
unlike Windows, those programs do not clutter up the original desktop with
icons - /m]

Shanner said he favors some sort of consumer's bill of rights that would
ensure those who buy a PC with Windows can do what they want with it.

Offering a disc with just the operating system seems like a way for PC
makers to improve customer satisfaction, said IDC analyst Richard Shim.

"You pay for it, you may as well get it," Shim said. Doing so,
Shim said, would also allow companies to keep preinstalling software while
giving customers who want to remove the software an easier option.

Lenovo uses recovery partitions, but on more recent models it has started
offering a "custom restore" option that enables people to choose
which of the software programs to reinstall.

"This will allow users to selectively restore things like our
ThinkVantage Technologies or other preloaded software," a Lenovo
representative said in a statement.

Some analysts have said that they also expect PC makers to begin
experimenting with offering clean PCs--ones without any added trial
software or other preinstalled programs. Customers may have to pay extra,
though, to offset the fact that PC makers make money from many of the
programs they add to a new PC's hard drive.

Current Analysis research director Samir Bhavnani said he thought $25 would
be a reasonable price that would make the computer maker whole and be
affordable enough to appeal to consumers.

One reason that a "clean PC" is a better alternative than wiping
the hard drive is that PC makers also equip their machines with the needed
drivers for their specific hardware. Although many PC makers do have them
for download on their Web site, finding all of the needed bits can be quite
a challenge.
===


I like this line: "Shanner said he favors some sort of consumer's bill
of rights that would ensure those who buy a PC with Windows can do what
they want with it."



Microsoft allowing the users to do what they want with their PCs?  With the
current paradigm coming out of Redmond, that ain't gonna happen anytime
soon.

  /m

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