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Mossberg on the Windows installation experience
Walt Mossberg's latest column is on the "out-of-box experience" of setting up a new Windows PC:
The problem is a lack of respect for the consumer. The manufacturers don't act as if the computer belongs to you. They act as if it is a billboard for restricted trial versions of software and ads for Web sites and services that they can sell to third-party companies who want you to buy these products. ...
The worst was a desktop icon called "Watch Hit Movies Now!" This turned out to be four full-length films from Sony's movie studios, which the company had preloaded onto my computer at the cost of more than four gigabytes of precious hard-disk space. But they aren't a gift. If you want to play them, you have to pay Sony.
I often wonder: for those people who have a choice, why would they choose to buy a Windows PC? (See my thoughts on the Mac vs. PC debate in my new book, Bit Literacy: Productivity in the Age of Information and E-mail Overload.)
(thanks, scott)
What has kept me in the PC Universe for now is a few things:
-I use a TabletPC and really like it. There is no real Mac alternative except a third party hack right now.
-I use TiVo To Go which has only just got to the Mac and I hear folks are having some problems.
-I have used Slingbox for over a year which just came out with a Mac Version
-I use Amazon Unbox
-I use Netflix Watch Now
-I still do some gaming and like how I can configure my system when I buy it with a top of the line video card.
-I use Windows mobile Devices like the Moto Q and the Blackjack
-I prefer my Samsung Gigabeat over my iPod when I travel because of battery life and its just easier to use
-I really like subscription based music services. I don't know if any work on the Mac, but I haven't seen any.
When an Apple Tablet hits market I will be very interested in switching but it will have to work better with other things I'm interested in too. I think it will over time. Increased market share should take can of that.
Easy solution. Pull out the windows reinstallation disk as soon as you get the computer and reinstall windows without any of the garbage.