Lenovo has been trying to clean up the massive mess that was left behind when the Superfish adware scandal hit, and it’s not doing very well. In order to rebuild people’s trust, the company has promised to cut back on the amount of crap that it installs on its computers. While that’s very sweet of them, it should be noted that the company will still install “necessary” software with the definition of “necessary” including all of the standard Lenovo software everyone hates.
Lenovo announced today that it’s committed to cutting down on the crapware pre-installed on the computers that it sells. “We are starting immediately, and by the time we launch our Windows 10 products, our standard image will only include the operating system and related software, software required to make hardware work well (for example, when we include unique hardware in our devices, like a 3D camera), security software and Lenovo applications,” the company said in a statement. “This should eliminate what our industry calls ‘adware’ and ‘bloatware.’ For some countries, certain applications customarily expected by users will also be included.” Lenovo’s statement doesn’t mean an end to all pre-installed software on its computers (for example, it looks like users will still get some form of antivirus software pre-installed, whether they want it or not) but it’s a step away from shipping a device with a mountain of crapware. It sounds similar to devices that are a part of the Microsoft Signature program – devices sold through the Microsoft Store that come with a clean version of windows and no pre-installed software.
