Microsoft Signature, Crapware-Free PCs from Microsoft

If you have ever bought a pre-manufactured PC, be it a desktop PC, laptop or other variant, you have probably noticed the abundance of programs that the system comes pre-installed with. From antivirus trial versions to desktop shortcuts, Adobe products and other software, there is a lot to remove on the PC. If your an experienced user you are probably using a program like PC Decrapifier to batch remove most of the programs that manufacturers like to put on the PC. If you are less tech savvy, you may end up with a PC that is not as fast as a clean one.

You are probably asking yourself why manufacturers do that, and the answer is simple: they get paid for it.  The interesting thing here is that they do not mind putting all those stuff on the PCs despite the knowledge that it is hurting the performance of the PC. And this is bad for the customer who buys those PCs, and for Microsoft, because it is usually Microsoft and its operating system that get the blame.

Microsoft Signature

Microsoft Signature is a new feature that Microsoft is introducing exclusively in their own store chain and in their online store. Every single PC that they sell on the store gets tuned for "maximum performance". This basically means that the PCs ship without most of the trialware and sample software that usually ship with those computer systems. The effect? Faster start-up, resume and sleep times for instance.

What Microsoft is doing essentially is removing software that its hardware partners usually nstall on the PC. You may be surprised now that this still means that custom software gets installed on the PC by Microsoft. What you find installed on it is the company's full Windows Live line of applications, Microsoft Security Essentials, Zune, a PlayReady PC Runtime, Microsoft Silverlight, Windows Media Center, Adobe Flash Player for Internet Explorer and Adobe Acrobat Reader. You also get 90 days of full Microsoft Support which can be extremely helpful in the first weeks of using a PC.

Good news is that the software that Microsoft installs on the PC is not trial software. Not so good news is that many users may not need the additional programs on their system, and that removing some or even all of them may speed up the PC even further.

Here is a video that explains the concept:

You may now ask yourself how much you'd have to spend for Microsoft Signature. According to the store, there is no extra charge, and it is included automatically when you purchase a PC from Microsoft directly. That does not necessarily mean that it is not factored in somehow in the price that you pay though. Prices do not seem higher than prices on other shopping sites like Amazon.com for instance.

Closing Words

The added value is great for PC users who would have a hard time removing those trial apps and programs from the computer they have just bought. For experienced users, it is likely nothing that they are particularly interested in as they are proficient enough to remove the crapware from the PC in a matter of minutes.

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