RSSDell to Preinstall Google Software
By Ed Oswald | Published May 25, 2006, 6:02 PM
Google has reached an agreement with Dell to have its software preinstalled on millions of new computers. Among the software included would be a customized version of the Google Toolbar, along with its Desktop Search product.
Additionally, new Dell owners will have their homepages set to a co-branded portal site. Google beat out Microsoft for the deal after Yahoo withdrew its bid, in which 100 million Dell PCs could ship with the Google software.
Such an agreement would help the Mountain View, Calif., based search giant continue its dominance as Microsoft makes changes to Vista to promote its own tools. Google complained to the Justice Department, although the agency sided with Microsoft saying the company was adequately giving users a choice of search engines.
Dell is the number one PC manufacturer with an 18.1 percent market share as of the first quarter of this year, according to IDC. The deal will put Google's tools in front of one out of every five new PC users. According to the Wall Street Journal, an agreement was less out of Google striking back at Microsoft than increasing the use of its software products.
Nevertheless, the disagreement over Internet Explorer 7 was cited as a reason for ensuring that the Dell deal went through. Analysts criticized Google previously for taking the legal route rather than hammering out deals with OEMs.
"This reminds me a lot of the Netscape complaints in the 90's," JupiterResearch analyst Michael Gartenberg previously said. "Didn't help Netscape very much back then and actually made them look quite weak."
Gartenberg also pointed out that Microsoft is making concessions to Google. In the builds he tested, upon visiting Google, IE offers to change the default settings to use the Google search engine. He did admit that as Microsoft evolves, it would be harder for the company to "co-opt" the browser and Windows desktop.
"More interesting is what's worrying Google, is it that Microsoft's search has crossed the line to be good enough or that there's going to be mass adoption of IE 7 and Vista (or both)?" Gartenberg added.
I like how they are just now releasing this info, when they've been bundling Google software on Dell machines for months.
First thing I do is remove it.
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|Dell just lost me as a customer. I don't like anything including operating system pre-installed on my system.
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|They have been putting crap on their systems for the past few years. This is nothing new. Its only news because its Google.
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|Good search engine but thats it????????
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|Google Desktop Search sux. It plugs into my Outlook without asking, and every time I search in Outlook it display Google search box. And they dont offer way to remove GDS search in outlook, so I uninstall GDS.
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|Tan, did you look under Add-in to see if you can disable it in OL?
Tools > Options > Other
Click [ Advanced options ]
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|In fact, I did it, but I hate the way GDS plug into my Outlook without asking me, and dont let me easily disable it. So I decided to remove GDS.
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|Dear Michael (Dell),
Please stop clogging up our hard drives - keep it lean and clean! We do want the hard drive space for ourselves that we paid to your company for. Just because you gave us a 250GB drive doesn't mean you can have some of it back >(
Amen!!
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|You didn't pay for a 250GB drive. You paid for part of it.
The money they make off of deals like this pays for the rest.
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|Sorry. I paid for it in full - it's mine. Not my concern if you make a loss from each sale you make and need to be "subsidized" by hand outs - it's not a viable long term business model anyway.
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|Dell can be cheaper than pretty much anyone else because of these kinds of deals. If you don't like it then buy a PC from another company who don't cover costs with preinstalled software.
Personally I don't care as the first thing I did with my new Dell desktop was wipe it and install a clean copy of Windows. Why don't you do the same if it bothers you so much?
You might not think the business model is that great but it has been working pretty well for Dell in the past 6-7 years and only seems to be getting better for them.
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|Can we sue the computer manufacturer for installing so much craps that we don't want? I mean MS get sued for having WMP and IE bundle in their OS.
Why can't the computer manufacturer create an option on first boot allow us to choice what we want to install. There are just basically too much craps on pre-install PC.
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|would microsoft now join the ranks of "the crying for abuse group" because of this memorable fact ? almost impossible to fill up a computer with more crap. ooooops... forgot the other coming part...a yahoo bar stuffed with ebay and paypal s***...maybe good news for us, plain computer sellers and maintenance offerers.
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|One more piece of crapware to remove off the new Dell PC's.
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|Google software sucks. I like the search site, but that's about it. And if I wanted there software I would download it. Imposing your software on others is just rude. But easily uninstalled.
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|Just purchased a new DELL a few months ago. I gave up trying to remove all of their added crap. I gave up trying it the hard way. I just reformated and reinstalled. A smooth running and very clean PC! Lost one day, but it was worth it!
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|I am with you there. I do however, leave some of the preinstalled software that is useful(there are some). But spend too much time removing the bulk.
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|And yet another reason not to buy a Dell computer (not that i would have considered it in the past)
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|Dell sales are growing as Q1 numbers showed. I think it's a good deal.
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|Now that Newegg owns them.
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|Here's an ideal: How about not installing any of this crap on my computer and saving me reconfiguration time right up front?
I don't want zillion-dollar corporations putting their junk on my system. (All the more reason I've built my own since the 80s.)
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|Surely those silly enough to buy a branded PC (Dell, HP, etc) instead of a whitebox either don't know or don't care that it comes pre-installed with a whole lot of programs they may or may not need.
I suppose if people knew what they were doing in the first place, they wouldn't be buying into machines that use proprietary components and configurations that are hard to replace and upgrade. (Yes, we still sell $200 135W PSUs for HP Pavilions).
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|What's really funny is that a lot of people couldn't tell a propietary Dell power supply apart from a standard ATX power supply.
The bright orange and yellow coloring on many of the wires in the 20-pin ATX connector should have been a dead giveaway on Dell's propietary power supplies.
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|yes, much could be said about just giving the CD's to install what you want and not doing it by default. I am up with that!
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|So google was crying just the other week becase Microsoft loaded IE7 to have MSN as the default search engine, accusing MS of playing unfairly, being a monopoly, and being anti-competitive.. all the while google is scheming up a deal with Dell to have their crap installed on all new machines...
Microsoft should sue Google AND Dell and demand that links be put for alternative search engines and toolbars.
Thank you all for letting me waste your time. Good night.
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|Yeah, but how's the veal?
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|He had it with some fava beans, a nice Chianti-- & some great company.
btw If he doesn't reply soon, we can assume his date ate him and made a nice coat out of his hide.
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|Yeah, but MS is the one with the 99% OS market share & 90+% browser share...different rules & expectations apply.
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|And that is what is wrong with our society. Just because one company is larger and has more market share, doesnt mean they should have to follow different rules. All companies should follow the same rules, including google, yahoo, apple, you name it.
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|Dell has been doing this for 3-4 months already.
I've setup at least 3 PC's for people in the last 4 months that were bought from Dell.com and they had Google Desktop Search and Google toolbar preinstalled.
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|Another bad idea, another thing I will have to uninstall. I go with the first post nothing installed except to OS. Let the user decide what he wants on HIS/HER machine. Google is well known for there security vulnerabilities such software at least you know Microsoft are trying hard to patch known issues. Google are too interested in getting untested software out as quickly as possible without beta testing it properly. Down with Google and there cheap simplistic software??
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|They are also more interesting in storing your data and their server. I should be a user choice NOT a default. MSFT learned this.
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|Personally, I wish they came with nothing preinstalled except the OS. This is what I dislike about pre-built computers. First thing I want to do is uninstall all the junk that is preinstalled on them. I guess some people like preinstalled software and probably would have never tried the certain software if it wasnt installed in the first place. For me its more of a annoyance.
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|so true, so true!
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|True, but most people don't think that way. Heck, most people who go out and buy computers with all the pre-installed crap have no idea they can even remove it. A large percent of the market doesn't care what comes with their computer, they just want to be able to get online and play games. Alas, those people don't read articles like this because they just don't care.
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|While I constantly use Google products and have some Google components on my Firefox (the spell checker which I'll be using on this comment and the search bar), I am tired of setting up new computers and having to remove TONS of junk that the user doesn't want. On the other hand, Google's programs rarely cause problems or have compatibility issues and Google wants to get as much advertisement out there before Windows Vista and IE 7 hits the market.
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|Hmm...
Dells with Firefox and Google pre-installed.
Wow, are they actually starting to install *useful* software now?
I guess wonders never cease.
...at least it's not crappy Yahoo! software. ;)
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|Google toolbar is the worse thing to incorporate into IE. It causes so many headaches that I uninstall it on any PC in the company that has even the slightest IE issue. I recall the battle between Novell and Microsft in the late 90's, Novell client was advertised as being 100% compatible with Windows for Workgroup and Windows 98, it was NOT and cause a multitude of problems. I uninstalled Novell client from any computer that was having network issues and didnt need to "talk" to the Novell side. So this Dell deal to pre install Google toolbar, Google Desktop etc is a BAD idea.
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|Huh...
Got it installed on just about every machine here. (Came with Google Desktop).
I find it invaluable.
What programs are you having issues with?
The only "problem" I've had is that I had to tell it to allow pop-ups for our webapps. Other than that...rock solid.
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|To users of Google toolbar it is the best thing since sliced bread but for those folks that support the products the battle between these "Giants" is as annoying as elephant gas.
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|Well that just says you need to switch to firefox, has it ever occurred the problem isn't the toolbar but it is IE itself? I use it always, never have a problem. In fact I find it is as much a part of my browser as surfing the web is, I wouldn't surf without it. Now that toolbar is truly a innovative piece of software, thank you Google.
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|Dude...
I am the network admin. I don't know your definition of support, but I think I got that covered in spades.
No battle, no flatulence. Windows XP SP2 and Google Desktop/Toolbar work beautifully together.
(Did I neglect to mention it's the Google Toolbar for Firefox?)
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|Indeed - IE6 often has issues with plugins, even it's own MSN toolbar. The problem is not limited to Google toolbar in IE, by any stretch.
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|I have had no problems with Google software. The toolbar is invaluable (as is Yahoo's, the only two I have,) Earth is fun to fiddle with, but GDS slows down my super-Dell a lot. BTW, Dell has a TERRIBLE rep here- my wife has had TWO of them go crash. HP/Compaq here we come.
For Dell tech support, go here:
http://www.illwillpress.com/vault.html
(tech support I, II, or the new III)
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|Why don't you whiners just wise up and get a Mac?
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