bloatware

[′blōt‚wer]

(computer science)

bloatware

(jargon, abuse)

This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)

bloatware

(1) Applications that are overloaded with features. See software bloat and wares.

(2) An application that was installed unknowingly along with another program because the user did not read the license agreement. See EULA.

(3) Extra applications pre-installed on a Windows computer. Quite often in the past, PC manufacturers have been paid by software vendors to pre-install lite versions of their products on the machines they sell. In addition, some of these applications load at startup, wasting RAM and providing a potential for conflict with other programs. For a fee, some retailers have offered to rid the new PC of bloatware for customers.

Android Mobiles Too
Like Windows, Android devices also suffer from bloatware, especially from the carriers. In some cases, as many as four different music players have been pre-installed on a device. See wares.

MAINGEAR PCs are "Clean"

Prominently displayed on MAINGEAR's website, this high-performance PC vendor builds PCs with only the software the user asked for. For more information, visit www.maingear.com.

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References in periodicals archive

Prevention and avoidance is key, especially when it comes to bloatware that isn't pre-installed.

What Is Bloatware and How Can You Remove It? New devices can come with pre-installed bloatware that reduces performance and violates privacy

The company later promised to stop bundling preinstalled bloatware on the computers and devices it sells.

Flaw-Ridden Bloatware Puts Nearly Every Lenovo PC at Risk from Hackers

But, there's bloatware from Micromax that might not be to your liking.

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Delete Carrier Bloatware - Most carriers load your phone with apps you'll probably never use.

What does rooting a phone do?

It's also unnecessarily pre-loaded with plenty of Orange bloatware, but that shouldn't put off anyone looking to get on the Android bandwagon for peanuts.

Android bargain

McNealy, who in the past has often condemned MS-Office as 'bloatware', which is a waste of space and often a waste of users' (employees') time, still has personal reservations about office productivity suites.

Sun Takes to Personal Productivity Apps >BY William Fellows

A survey by Standish Group International has found criticisms of 'bloatware' appear to be well founded, according to Computerworld.

-'BLOATWARE' CRITICISM WELL FOUNDED CLAIMS STANDISH GROUP INTERNATIONAL

On the face of it, the HP Command Center utility seems like bloatware no one asked for, but only a full review of the laptop will tell us if it's really useful.

Hands-on with the HP ENVY x360 convertible laptop: a true thin and light

The OS lacks any bloatware Apps, giving users a pure Android experience.

TECH BREAK: Is Nokia 6.1 a phone you can rely on?

Instead, new versions merely devour more memory - a tendency that has spawned the term "bloatware" - as they attempt to fix problems introduced by their predecessors, all while creating new problems, to be addressed the next time around.

Tech upgrades are not as simple as you think