This week, Avram Piltch discusses a topic that many of us have forgotten about: bloatware. Over the past few years, the concept has changed, but has not gone away. Instead of Internet Explorer toolbars, today Microsoft and manufacturers pre-install casual games and other software. The question is, is the software that comes pre-installed a problem? Avram's got the answer.
In addition, Avram gives us a preview of the Asus Zenbook Ux430, the latest laptop to receive an Intel 8th Generation Core upgrade. While the review is still in-process, Avram's got some of the early results for this refreshed laptop.
Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.
Avram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.