So, I’m not sure what the deal is with this, but Fry’s was advertising that if you bought Windows 7 from one of their advertised locations, you’d get a bunch of free software (after rebates) including:

  • Norton Antivirus 2010, Free
  • Nero 9 Reloaded, Free
  • Global Protection 2010, Free
  • System Mechanic, Free
  • Trend Micro Internet Security Pro, Free
  • NTI Shadow 4, Free
  • McAfee Internet Security 2010, Free
  • NTI Media Maker 8 Suite, Free
  • Fireman 3.0, Free
  • Bitdefender 2010, Free
  • AVG Antivirus & Antispyware, Free
  • PC Tune-Up 2.0, Free
  • Spysweeper 2010, Free
  • Stuffit Deluxe 2009, Free
  • Corel Family Pack 2009, Free

I dunno about you, but this selection would mostly cause me to buy Windows 7 someplace else. Read more after the clicky thingie…

Why on earth would they give people FIVE anti-virus programs?! You can’t run more than one anyway, so four of those are automatically useless. Plus, the only one of those I would trust on a PC is AVG…which you can get for free anyway. But why bother? Just run Microsoft Security Essentials which is, you guessed it, free.

Nero 9 is probably enticing to some people. I had to look up the Corel Family Pack 2009…it’s like Microsoft Works, but hopefully with less suckage. Thing is, though, Microsoft will be offering free, reduced-functionality versions of its core Office apps to people with Office 2010, but that’s not til next year obviously.

Some of that other stuff…System Mechanic, NTI Shadow, NTI Media Maker, Fireman, Bitdefender, PC Tune-Up, Spysweeper…I wouldn’t install ANY of that stuff on a PC.

Finally we get to Stuffit Deluxe, which is like the Mac-based, retarded cousin of WinZip. Let’s not forget that Windows has compressed files built in…you can open Zip files and even create them without installing anything extra. If you want extra functionality, get WinZip. I have never needed to use Stuffit except to open Stuffit files from a Mac user. How often does that come up? I haven’t used it in like 2 years.

Keep in mind that these pieces of software are free after rebate…which means you have to send stuff in…and you probably have to register them. Even the four anti-virus software packages you’re definitely not going to be using. Which also means that now all those companies will have your contact info. Does that sound like something you want?

Do yourself a favor…do NOT install crapware on your new PC, especially if you’re installing Windows 7 on it. Leave it running well the way it should.