Pre-built PCs loaded with software trials, promotional software, and browser toolbars may soon be a thing of the past. The New York Times reports that Best Buy's Geek Squad bloatware removal service is putting pressure on PC vendors to change their software bundling practices.

Software companies pay hundreds of millions of dollars to PC makers like Hewlett-Packard to install their photo tools, financial programs and other products, usually with some tie-in to a paid service or upgrade. With margins growing thinner than most laptops, this critical revenue can make the difference between profit and loss for the computer makers, industry analysts say. If the programs are removed, the software makers gain no value out of the $2 to $10 they typically pay H. P. and others to install them on each PC - and PC makers miss out on their cut from revenue-sharing deals. But Best Buy, the nation's largest electronics retailer, tells computer buyers that the preinstalled software, also known as bloatware, can clutter their machines and slow them down. "You'd be surprised how often consumers tell us to get rid of it," said Robert Stephens, the head of Geek Squad, the technical support division of Best Buy that removes the software. He declined to say how many people were paying for the service, but said that "it's going to increase in popularity."

Well, I never understood half the stuff they loaded on there anyways. A lot of it, I'm sure they are making some money on, but then they have these terrible in house programs that often just do what windows does anyways. Except they do it worse :=\