Microsoft wages war on 'crapware' with new Windows 10 tool

Microsoft yesterday released a free tool for Windows 10 that claims to scrub PCs of the "bloatware" -- also called "crapware" -- that computer makers pack on new machines.

Refresh Windows, which must be downloaded from Microsoft's website, currently works only on preview builds of 10, those seeded to participants of the Insider program. Since Insider is a precursor to the production code, the tool should be usable by owners of systems upgraded to the Anniversary Update, version 1607, which is slated to ship next month.

At the moment, the tool can be downloaded via a link embedded in a long message on Microsoft's support forum; the message appears in Edge after clicking a new link in the Settings panel under the "Update & Security" item's "Recovery" option.

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