[Russ Smith]

I own a Sony UX (handtop) and one thing I did fairly quickly was download all the drivers and support software and redo the system installation without any of the slagware. The hardest part is figuring what you can rip out without eliminating some functionality you want. Thanks to a very active user-community that wasn't as hard as it could be. Then the issue was just taking the time. Since then, one user has created a streamlined install disk to do the same thing and another has discovered just when to interrupt the recovery CD to eliminate all the Sony value-subtracted stuff.

Like most of you, I'm annoyed that I have to do this. Cell-phones are offered at an additional charge, free from service contracts. I'd be willing to pay extra (considering, as Mr Golke pointed out, that the cost of the system is subsidized by all that junk) to get a clean system if they'd give me the option.