Very true and a shame.
I see many non-technical users where preinstalled background practices have
been running for years without their knowledge.
I also see users all the time who have high speed processors with pitiful
performance on machines crippled by inadequate RAM. On many XP machines
purchased with 256MB the installation of a multifunction printer alone slows
the computer to a crawl. They can't believe the difference after upgrading
this to 512MB. And now the same equivalent with so many computers sold
with 512MB for Vista.....
The vendors who claim they have to do these tings to be competitive are the
same ones who have driven this mess. Most people would gladly spend another
$50 to $100 dollars at the outset if they knew what they were getting. And
you're right that they should not have to be experts to get a cost effective
quality PC.
--
"ray" <> wrote in message
news

...
> The problem, of course, is that most users are not up to that sort of
> tinkering to make a new system work - and they should not have to be.
>