There is an interesting post from the Dell blog on “bloatware”. If you’re not familiar with the term, bloatware is the software that’s pre-loaded on the new PC that you buy that you’ll almost NEVER use. For those that haven’t really looked into it, bloatware is all about margins in the PC industry. While the costs of PCs go down, it is tough for the hardware manufacturers to compete at decent margins. Every PC that’s shipped to a new customer is a marketing vehicle for new software, and of course Dell gets paid through partnerships with software companies to distribute these programs on new PCs. These trial versions and enticements can lead to new customers for the software companies. Dell can use these offerings to give customers an option to more quickly purchase and/or upgrade a service on their PC, in essence providing a customer service.

Sounds like a win-win, right? Well, kind of. Michelle Pearcy of Dell writes, “For many Dell customers, having pre-loaded software that allows them to play back digital music, edit digital photos, and protect their new systems from viruses and spyware is a positive thing.   Does that mean all of our customers like it?  No.” Dell knows that most savvy consumers uninstall all of this software or reimage their PC entirely. Others simply delete the icons off their desktop and ignore the pre-installed software. Dell goes on to acknowledge that customers perceive that these “bloatware” programs cause performance issues but that isn’t likely to be the case based on their lab tests. While Dell ducks the issue to a degree and blames the “OS and security applications”, this is a good topic for them to discuss on their blog. While Dell was a corporate blogging nightmare not too long ago, they’re turning things around and doing a reasonable job of embracing this medium.

Donna at MSMVPS.com also points out some potential security issues with OEM system security combined with bloatware.