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Filed under: Utilities, Features, Windows, Freeware, How-Tos, Windows x64

How to replace the crappy pre-installed software on your new Windows 7 PC with great free apps

So you picked up a new Windows 7 laptop (or desktop) or you're planning on buying one in the very near future?

If you took a look at display models in stores like Best Buy or Frye's, you no doubt noticed that new systems come with a lot of programs pre-installed. Lots of software is a good thing, right? Not always.

Trouble is, what you get is often a) not really useful software or b) a time-limited trial. Office 2007 and the antivirus protection the salesperson told you about? They're 60 day trials. After that, they're going to ask you to pay up...But you don't have to.

No, you can tell those apps to keep their hands off your credit card! With all the great, free software Download Squad has covered over the years, there's really no need to burden your new system with that kind of software timebomb.
With just two simple apps you can quickly strip away all the bloatware (that's what us techy types call the excess crud preinstalled on your new system) and get yourself a nice selection of totally free software that will never expire!

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Filed under: Internet, Microsoft, Search

With search deal, MS wins back everyone who had Live hijacked by Yahoo

So Microsoft has partnered with Yahoo!, and Bing will now provide the heavy lifting when it comes to search. When I read the news this morning, I immediately thought of all the Yahoo bloatware I've seen over the years on certain OEM systems - I won't single out anyone like HP for this.

Live (and now Bing) would have been the default search engine on all these systems, were it not for the Yahoo! bundle. Now, after years of this and Y! Messenger sneaking the Yahoo! toolbar onto the machines of my click-first-and-read-later customers, it looks like Microsoft is going to win back all that search juice.

And the default search engine swap to Yahoo! was perpetrated by more than their own software. Loads of applications - like the non-slim version of CCleaner - come bundled with the toolbar. It all adds up to a big time win for Bing on the desktop.

All without end users lifting a finger to make their own choices. That's important, because many of them weren't paying attention the first time around.

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware

PC Decrapifier 2.0 released

As someone who unboxes a lot of new laptops, PC Decrapifier has been a trusted helper for a long time.

It's always been good at removing the bloat from factory Windows installs. In the past, however, it's taken a little while for programs to go from forum suggestions to being included in Decrapifier. That's what version 2.0 is all about.

With an improved scripting engine, updates to Decrapifier should be available much more often (read more about it in Jason's post on the Decrapifier site).

Currently Decrapifier can remove common bloatware like McAffee, Norton, and Office 2007 trials, several Roxio, Sonic, and Corel apps, and even AOL software. If you're the "friend that knows about computers," be sure to keep Decrapifier on your flash drive for quick, automated removal tasks.

Featured Time Waster

The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

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