Brace yourself for a Windows 10 crapware explosion -- pre-installing TripAdvisor is just the start

Yesterday, TripAdvisor made a couple of announcements. The first was innocuous enough, letting people know that there was now a TripAdvisor app for Windows 10 available to download for free. Lovely stuff, if you like that sort of thing. The second announcement is less pleasing. It will be "pre-loaded on millions of Windows 10 compatible devices".

This is clearly going to be something that divides opinion, but I don't think I'm alone in thinking that padding out Windows 10 Mobile with crapware might not be the best way to attract users. There's no denying that TripAdvisor can prove useful -- it's helped me to make dining decisions on more than one occasion -- but pre-installed apps are rarely, if ever, a good idea, and Microsoft is hardly in a possible to put a (nother) foot wrong with Windows 10.

One of the problems with pre-loaded apps (and the problems are plentiful), is that the apps tend to be hard-baked into the OS meaning that they're near-impossible to uninstall. It's not yet clear whether this will be the case with TripAdvisor, but it is likely. Regardless of whether TripAdvisor is a permanent fixture or is removable, there is the question of choice. Some people may be quite happy to have the app ready and waiting for them, but what about those who have already tried TripAdvisor and have decided that it's not the app for them, preferring instead to use one of the alternatives? Or those who have no need for such an app in the first place?

Then there is the fact that the pre-installation of any app acts very much like an ad. It's one thing to pre-install apps you've made yourself (although there is still the question of whether it is 'right' to use up storage space that a user might want to use for something else) -- just as Apple and Google do -- but it's a different matter with third-party tools. Of course there is the argument that adding any app to a device is merely adding value, but pre-installation editorializes this process. And let's not forget that TripAdvisor exists to make money -- is it really fair to make Windows 10 users part of this profit-generation by plopping the app icon right in front of them?

The announcement seems innocent enough, but really it's indicative of issues Microsoft is experiencing:

TripAdvisor, the world's largest travel site, today announced the launch of a new Windows 10 app across desktop, tablet and mobile. The TripAdvisor app for Windows 10 will be available in 47 markets and will be pre-loaded on millions of Windows 10 compatible devices in 2016.

For a long time, Microsoft has been criticized for having a problem with apps -- the so-called app gap. People are simply not visiting the Windows Store, and this is something that undoubtedly upsets companies like TripAdvisor. Knowing that very few people are likely to visit  the Store, there is perhaps little option other than forcing apps upon users if you want them to gain a following.

Ultimately, the user loses out. Presented with TripAdvisor -- which, let's face it, does a perfectly adequate job -- how many are going to bother seeking out an alternative? In pre-loading apps, Microsoft and its partners are reducing user choice and quashing competition. There are no winners. We can only hope that this is not the start of a slippery slope to a crapware explosion.

For the sake of clarification, TripAdvisor provided the following statement:

The TripAdvisor Windows 10 app is currently available for download through the Windows Store, so we wanted to get the news out to make consumers aware of our new app. The pre-installs will occur throughout 2016 via our distribution partners, not Microsoft.

For users who upgrade to the Windows 10 OS on older devices, they will may find our app on the Windows Store unless they already had the Windows 8.1 app, at which point it will automatically update.

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