Thoughts on Software Bloatware/Crapware
Crapware/Bloatware
Bloating (Medical Definition)
Bloating is a condition where your belly feels painfully full and tight and usually associated with constipation (difficult to eliminate bowels)
Bloatware Definition
Software that is preinstalled on a device and that is either unremovable or very difficult to eliminate.
- It tends to consume significant computing resources in the background usually with the user unaware of it.
- Mostly paid for by a third-party company (i.e. Bitdefender for Windows) in an attempt to distribute their product to a wider audience.
- When a device is overloaded with Crapware — RAM/CPU becomes full and tight, and it performs much slower, and elimination of this “computing gas” is difficult.
Crapware
- Cheaper or crappier devices tend to get more Crapware (can be used interchangeably with bloatware)
- 90% of these applications never get used
- Can unknowingly collect user data, creating a new privacy dilemma. (from Ashampoo blog referenced at end)
Personal Thoughts
I have not heard of any additional scandals since the Lenovo Superfish scandal.
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There is an old adage, “you get what you pay for.” Lower-priced devices will have more crapware, however you still get a supercomputer at a fraction of a price, so technically its a fair exchange.
One of my favorite android-app companies, Ashampoo from Germany, has a stellar app called Droid Optimizer, which I’ve been using for over 5 years. It automatically closes background apps, clean cache, junk files, etc.
I tried their Windows 10 optimizer recently for the first time and was ASTOUNDED at how much BLOATWARE/CRAPWARE Lenovo and Microsoft load in the background such as “Telemetry” services. Telemetry is usually data collection.
I’m considering building a custom-desktop PC devoid of the insidious computer-disease known as bloatware/crapware to see how much of a difference it makes on performance.
Further Reading
Ashampoo Blog — What is bloatware?Links to an external site.
