Windows 8: Microsoft Tries to Rein in Crapware

Windows 8 may be the most significant reimagining of Microsoft's OS in more than 15 years, but it still won't change one eternal rule of Microsoft-powered PCs: wherever Windows goes, bloatware follows. Microsoft and its users have long complained to hardware makers about the amount of extra software that manufacturers include with Windows PCs such as extra media-playing software or trial versions of antivirus programs.

It sounds like the bloatware wars will favor users when Windows 8 launches later this year. But extra software may still creep onto your new Dell, HP, or Lenovo PC, even though Microsoft is reportedly getting ready to take on Windows 8 bloat.

Signature Upgrades

To fight off bloatware, Microsoft plans to offer Windows 8 users its $99 Signature Upgrade service available at Microsoft Stores across the U.S., according to PCWorld's sister site Computerworld. Signature upgrade is an extension of the Microsoft Store's Signature PC program that offers Windows 7 PCs tweaked for speed and performance, and the devices come without any manufacturer bloatware. If you didn't buy your PC from the Microsoft Store, all you have to do is walk into one of the software maker's 22 retail locations in the U.S., plunk down a hundred bucks, and a day or two later your bloat-free PC is ready to go.

Microsoft says compared to a regular PC, a Signature PC can go to sleep 23.1 percent faster, starts-up 39.6 percent faster, and can resume 51.3 percent sooner.