Microsoft has announced the Signature, a range of PCs which come without any crapware, and "carefully [tuned] to help achieve maximum performance."
Mac users: stop me here if this sounds familiar.
According to "industry experts" (actually, just one expert: Paul Thurrot), 95 percent of users surveyed preferred these slimmed down PCs over those bloated with junk. "Virtually all participants liked that the trialware was removed and replaced with a clean desktop and easy-to-use Start menu" says the blurb.
So far, so obvious. Of course we hate clutter and love faster computers. But doesn't it seem like Microsoft is firing its hardware partners up into the air like clay pigeons, and mercilessly gunning them down? Here are a few samples from the promo site. For the "media lover":
For "the gamer":
And for "the busy mom":
Ouch. Take that Sony, Dell, Asus and every other PC manufacturer out there. But there's more. Being Microsoft, there couldn't just be one Signature range. Nope. You can also choose the $100 Signature Premium. This adds LoJack theft tracking, as well as a few other things that Mac users might find familiar.
Premium gives you one year of technical support, one session of in-store training (lord knows which store this will be in. I hope it's not Best Buy) and "priority access" to training events. Apple users can enjoy all of these just by walking into an Apple Store.
Various models of notebooks and "slates" are available, and I wonder just how much Microsoft had to pay the manufacturers to nix the bloatware.
Microsoft clearly deserves a thumbs up for cleaning the crap off its machines, but it comes over a little like a philandering husband who wants his wife to pay him not to cheat anymore.
Signature [Microsoft]