“A senior Microsoft Corp. executive says the company is concerned that uncertified third-party software loaded onto new computers by manufacturers could hurt the launch of consumer versions of its Windows Vista operating system later this month,” Saleem Khan reports for CBC News.
Khan reports, “In a private discussion Tuesday night at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the Microsoft official told CBC News Online, on condition of anonymity, that the world’s largest software maker is frustrated by legal shackles that prevent the company from restricting what kinds of software major computer makers install on new PCs.”
‘We can’t do anything about it because it would be illegal,’ the executive said in reference to restrictions placed on the company following a U.S. federal anti-trust lawsuit against the company,” Khan reports.
Khan reports, “The concern arises from third-party software that hardware makers commonly install on new computers in exchange for a fee, many of which have not been tested and certified by Microsoft to work with Vista, the executive said. They include things such as links to online services, and demo versions of programs. ‘We call them craplets,’ the official said. The term is a contraction of the words ‘crap’ and ‘applet.’ An applet is a small computer program or application.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apparently you can make crap even crappier by topping it with more crap.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Wealthy Industrialite” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
Top Windows developer dumps Microsoft’s ‘pile of crap’ for Apple’s Mac OS X – September 12, 2006
PC World writer’s advice for Microsoft: ‘Stop making crap’ – July 27, 2006
Of course Apple would never have this problem, muhahahahaha
Craplets – that’s funny. Even microsoft has some wit.
KHAAAAAAAAAAAAN!
Rush has Ditto Heads, I think we should be the MDN Craplets.
Oh we spell disaster alright.
they’re consciously or not trying to be Apple by controlling the software-hardware integration from 3rd party..
too bad they cant!
I bet he got the term craplet from Vista itself.
dude, think it through.
that annoying nagware is how Dell et al make money.
it’s how they can cut costs and still make some profit…
asking them to remove it is like asking them to abandon their raison d’etre..
I’m sure MS is thinking… “first bootup should be a religious experience.. “
Instead its PORNBLOCK V7.003 INSTALL NOW!
So I guess they consider Microsoft Office a productivity Crapplication Suite?
I’m just saying.
Crap topping. The Windows users favorite dish from Microsoft.
Microsoft needs to use apply a little spin to this news.
“Vista, it’s craptacular!”
“Vista, our shit doesn’t stink…that bad.”
“Vista, our shit doesn’t stink…like other people’s.”
“Vista, only our crap and no one else’s. Guaranteed.”
“Vista, we know our shit.”
“Vista, direct from our colon to your PC.”
“Vista, the stench you expect from the people you know.”
“Vista, the finest feces for the discriminating user.”
“Vista, don’t trust other people crapping on your PC, we’re the experts.”
‘Vista, hey, it floats!”
“Vista, why buy a few craplets when you can own the whole sewer?”
“Vista, first potty, not third potty.”
“Vista, your PC, our cesspool.”
“Vista, preloaded with Hep-A vaccine.”
Craplet = software installed by the manufacturer where Microsoft hasn’t gotten its vig.
Great MDN take…
Hey, Apple puts a demo of Office 2004 on new Macs. You don’t see Apple calling it a “craplet” or having it cause the Mac to crash. Gee, I thought Microsoft was the expert in partnering…
Besides, a “real” OS does not have to worry about badly written applications. The app might crash and burn, but the OS is secure. More proof that Windows Vista = Mac OS 9.
Right! I can see right through this one!
Microsoft is trying to shift the blame to PC manufacturers by saying, Hey if Vista sucks it because of THEIR crapplets, don’t blame Vista!
I spot BS!!!!!!
Hey Anon, you forgot one..
“Vista, it’s crappalappin’!”
yeah CRAPplication is the best idea!
Then why doesn’t Microsoft reduce the fee for Windows to box makers in return for removal of the offending craplets installed with the computer?
Nothing illegal about that incentive.
The MDN take me cracked up. It is sad because it is so typical, and it
has been this way for PC’s for a long time. I’ll get laughed at for this,
but I once purchased a Packard Bell 133mhz Pentium machine brand
new ( I had plenty of Mac access at work, I got it to play games ).
The point is, it came pre-loaded with total garbage. I had to format the
drive and do a clean Windows 95 install. It is still the same today, you
can hardly by a machine off the shelf that sports a clean OS…
… Mac. Yet another reason to lova a Mac. Can I get a whoop whoop?
Is a craplet brown?
So much for M$ loving its “partners”…
Gee, I would not worry about a few craplets, Microsoft will always be the biggest crapola in many people’s hearts and zunes.
Apple installed all kinds of 3rd party software to my MacBook and they work great.
PC makers ship webcams and memorycard readers in their laptops and the drivers are missing.
Guess the beige-box-buyers just don’t care or know any better.
Then why doesn’t Microsoft reduce the fee for Windows to box makers in return for removal of the offending craplets installed with the computer?
Nothing illegal about that incentive.
Did you not see this part ?..
‘We can’t do anything about it because it would be illegal,’ the executive said in reference to restrictions placed on the company following a U.S. federal anti-trust lawsuit against the company,”
Basically Microsoft abused their monopoly to the extent that they can no longer be trusted to behave as a responsible business.
If Microsoft want to control what goes onto PCs, they should just make and sell the PCs themselves. Can’t believe they’re bitching about this when this is fundamentally the way the market that made them billions upon billions works.
If you think about it, we have craplets, too, with the trial version of Office preinstalled …
Wah Wah Wah…… Doesn’t Macrosift realize that the biggest craplet is Vista itself…. what a waste of CPUs – spend all that money and ingenuity – only to have some 3rd rate OS put on it.
I mean, who today would go out and spend even $300, only to turn around and put DOS on it (although in some respects it might be more productive that putting Vista on it).
Macrosift is simply trying to put the blame for their crappy OS on some one else…… If their OS was worth anything, it would be secure from “craplets”
Anybody else find the contrast amazing (and depressing if you’re someone who actually likes Doze), that Dull and the others load total s**t as extras on XP/Vista, but when you buy a new Mac you get iLife, one of the best consumer “add-on” packages available?
“More proof that Windows Vista = Mac OS 9.”
Please do not insult OS9 like that. OS9 had some great qualities. Vista… not so much.