Pre-Installed Software

Pre-installed software is the software already installed and licensed on a computer bought from an original equipment manufacturer (OEM). A company that produces hardware to be sold under another company's brand

Benefits

Purchasing hardware and software together is cost-effective, and discounts are possible from OEMs on bulk orders.

Pre-installation provides the convenience of turnkey solution, when the user does not have to worry about installation of various commonly used software, such as operation system or word processors.

Drawbacks

Pre-installed software commonly suffers from one of more of the following problems:

• Pre-installed software is commonly licensed for use only on the computer it was pre-installed, and is not transferable to other computers
  
  
• Pre-installed software may be functionality or time limited, in a effort to get you to purchase the "full" version.
  
  
• Pre-installed software may not come with any media, should you need to reinstall it.
  
  
• Pre-installed software may modify or replace the default browser or system settings, in an effort to target specific advertisements to the user; or may otherwise contain functionality the user might consider to be malware.
  
  
• Pre-installed software may consume system resources, even if not actively being run by the user.
  
  
• Pre-installed software may be difficult for users to remove, such as via the standard uninstall utility provided by the system.

Craplets

Often new computers come with pre-installed software which the manufacturer was paid to include but is of dubious value to the purchaser. Such unwanted preinstalled software and advertisements are derogatorily called craplets, a portmanteau of crap and applet, and crapware.

In January 2007, an unnamed executive spokesman for Microsoft expressed concern that the Windows Vista launch might be damaged by poorly designed, uncertified third-party applications installed by vendors — "We call them craplets." He stated that the antitrust case against Microsoft prevented the company from stopping the pre installation of these programs by OEMs.

Walter Mossberg, technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal, condemned "craplets" in two columns published in April 2007, and suggested several possible strategies for removing them. According to Ars Technica, most craplets are installed by OEMs who receive payment from the authors of the software.

At the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show, Dell defended this practice, stating that it keeps costs down, and implying that systems might cost significantly more to the end user if these programs were not preinstalled.

Some system vendors and retailers will offer, for an additional charge, to remove unwanted pre-installed software from a newly-purchased computer; retailers, in particular, will tout this service as a "performance improvement".

In 2008, Sony Corporation announced a plan to charge end users US$50 for the service; Sony subsequently decided to drop the charge for this service (instead offering it for free) after many users expressed outrage.

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