14 DAY TRIAL // Long-time Windows 10 users probably know that bloatware has been a problem of this operating system version since forever, and even though we expected Microsoft to address it with every new feature update, this didn’t happen.
There was a time when some of the pre-installed apps that were removed by users, including bloatware, that is, were pre-installed whenever Microsoft released OS updates, all without us even being asked about it.
And while Windows 10 as a platform keeps evolving, the bloatware just seems to be here to stay, and the recently-released October update is no exception.
I recently clean-installed the operating system using Microsoft’s official ISO images, only to find out that way too many apps that I don’t need come pre-loaded.
First and foremost, this is Windows 10 Pro, and which I exclusively use for my work. As an operating system that’s supposed to help you stay productive, Windows 10 should by no means offer bloatware that has nothing in common with this approach.
This is exactly the case of all these apps that I ended up with on my PC after clean-installing the OS. Here’s what my Start menu looks like without me installing any other piece of software:
Not only that Windows 10 comes with several games pre-installed, like Candy Crush Saga and Cooking Fever, but several other titles are pinned to the Start menu and launch the Microsoft Store when clicked. Such an example is Royal Revolt 2: Tower Defense, which needs to be installed from the Store by the user, but whose live tile is there in the Start menu. The same thing for the Netflix app.
And it’s not just games. My fresh Windows 10 install also comes with Fitbit Coach, an app that’s supposed to help me exercise more, because you know, I’m just too busy complaining about stuff and I don’t have the time to work out. And additionally, there’s also an app Phototastic Collage, which I have no idea what it is, but which somehow ended up on my computer too.
Again, this is a computer that’s supposed to help me stay productive and get the job done, as Microsoft likes to say, so I see absolutely no reason to install so many unwanted apps with a fresh Windows 10 version.
The good thing is that, at least, I can remove all of these, though it goes without saying this isn’t something you should have to do, especially when planning to start from scratch.
Users have been complaining about bloatware in Windows 10 for several years already, and unfortunately, nothing appears to change, even though the more time it passes, the more obvious it becomes that bloatware has no place on our devices.
Mix this with the suggested apps in the Start menu, which many consider to be ads, and here’s the recipe for more criticism against an operating system that’s undoubtedly evolving, but which doesn’t seem to improve some of the core parts of the experience it offers to users.
Somehow ironic is that Microsoft pins all these unwanted apps to the Start menu considering the company itself believes that nobody checks out the live tiles anyway. Recent rumors indicate that the software giant could even ditch live tiles entirely in a Windows Lite version of the Start menu, as what users are looking for is just a static Start menu whose purpose is to launch apps and nothing more.
At this point, we can only hope that Microsoft would just get the message and stop embedding so much unwanted stuff into a clean Windows 10 installation. Fingers crossed for the upcoming spring 2019 update to declare war on bloatware (though I’m not really sure this can happen).