Comments on: Tired of the Crapware

By: Saurabh

Saurabh — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:36:22 +0000

Well back in early days I used to just reformat the computer and install a clean copy of windows 2000 according to thats the only version of windows that is remotely usable…
but surprisingly my previous 2 computers had no crapware no spyware and just worked out of the box…

but then my my last 2 computers have been macs… :))

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 21 May 2008 06:56:35 +0000

@Mibrilane
IE7 is NOT entrenched in Windows XP and can be removed. IE6 however… Fuhget aboudit!

Get your dad to use Firefox with Adblock Plus – much more gooder!

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 21 May 2008 06:54:11 +0000

@Enzer Milliard
Actually, depending on what you are beta testing, you probably could totally convert to Ubuntu. Just add this to your existing /etc/apt/sources.list file and install VirtualBox via either apt-get or Synaptic:
# The VirtualBox non-free binary edition
deb http://www.virtualbox.org/debian/ etch non-free
(Though you will have to have linux-headers installed first – type ‘uname -a’ in a console to find what you are running – and you may need to change ‘etch’ to your version. Also, add your username to the virtualbox group, then logout and log back in)

You can run Windows with your laptop’s key in a window in Ubuntu. Works beautifully!!!

By: Zack

Zack — Sun, 18 May 2008 18:45:43 +0000

@TRONGUY

Tell iPhoto to stop opening when you put in a drive. It’s probably not that hard, given I’ve had to do similar things with Apple programs and it was pretty much a 2-click process. And a 1.6ghz? Do your computer a favor and upgrade it.

By: emory

emory — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:43:48 +0000

<3 Ubuntu

By: Mibrilane

Mibrilane — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:08:56 +0000

@TRONGUY

I suspect your iPhoto problem is because you’re running a 1.4GHz G4. That’s from, what, 2001? 2002? Also, how much RAM is in that thing. How many photos are in your library? These things impact performance.

I’ve got iPhoto ‘08 with a library of about 4000-ish photos on my AU iMac 2.8GHz and it opens in less than a second.

So, iPhoto is not crapware just because your machine is slow. That’s a poor argument.

We still can’t figure out how to get IE7 on my dad’s Dell computer (Windows XP) to recognize that the Dell Solutions web page should not be the home page every time he opens IE7. We’ve changed the home page setting many times to about:blank and other things – it doesn’t care. THAT is what crapware is all about – demos, home pages, etc. that entrench themselves in the OS.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Wed, 14 May 2008 22:26:49 +0000

Build my own.

By: chad

chad — Wed, 14 May 2008 20:13:09 +0000

@TRONGUY

Finder > Applications > iPhoto.app + (CMD+Backspace)

problem solved :D

I have to admit though, Apple is prone to this as well, your Mac comes out of the box with a “trial” version of iWork if you buy a MacBook Pro. Also there is more than likely a trial of Microsoft Office, and sometimes some other crap… like “comic book studio” or something.

I think the main difference is they try to give you software you will actually use or might need (iPhoto, iMovie, iTunes, iDvd, Garage Band, etc.) not AOL or Compuserve, or some lame ass Virus Scanner cleaner yadda yadda yadda. The other key difference is the ease of removal. Mac apps are literally “drag to trash” easy to remove. Ever tried uninstalling AOL and its counter parts from that new Dell?…. How about your trial version set to expire and explode of McAfee or Norton?… requires multiple reboots, and usually mucks up the registry pretty well before you even get to start using your damn system.

If you’re a windows lackey and linux scares you…. http://linuxmint.com (aol not included)

By: Joaquin

Joaquin — Wed, 14 May 2008 18:17:53 +0000

I use Mac.

By: Tronguy

Tronguy — Wed, 14 May 2008 18:15:10 +0000

Even Apple isn’t immune to this totally, but their crapware is all in-house. iPhoto takes ten to twenty seconds to load on my computer, a 1.6GHz G4. Pathetic. And, it wants to load every time I stick a USB stick on the bus, rendering the computer unusable with the beach ball while iPiggo takes its time loading up. At least it is somewhat useful after it loads.

The same type software under MorphOS on the Pegasos loads up by the time your finger gets off the mouse button from clicking the icon.

I see the hassles my wife’s XP box gives her, so I don’t bother to try Windows anymore. Will probably do Linux next time, or wait for the heir-apparent Pegasos III, under whatever name Genesi gives it. It will be able to play Blu-ray DVDs and that’s all the power I need :-)

*sigh* nothing’s as good as the Amigas I had back in the day…