Generally its not the bloatware that OEMs put on, since it is easily enough to uninstall those applications in the vast majority of cases. The typical software/image build practices used by many OEMs are somehow flawed beyond comprehension and actually introduce major dysfunction, registry or file inconsistencies. I haven't fully dissected what the hell they are doing when they create their system images or post-imaging routines because it can be pretty cryptic when the post-imaging routines delete many of the source files, scripts, and whatnot.
I don't know why Microsoft doesn't crack down on OEMs. Flawed OEM practices that impact the user experience make Microsoft look bad. Everyone thinks it must be Microsoft's product that is flawed, when in so many cases, its really piss-poor practices by the OEM breaking things.
My understanding is that they install the OS on a machine, lets call it machine A. then they make a mirror of said machine... this is their "restore disk".. they copy this image to all new machines.
The problem is that the hardware config between machine A and all future machines is different.
I have had cases where my brand new computer, on first boot, installed drivers for 10 minutes... everything from CPU to video card to mobo components was the wrong driver. I actually looked at "deactivated" drivers and saw that the machine on which the image was originally made had older hardware that differed from my own. (check your device manager. Select "show hidden devices"... if your computer shows, for example, 2 copies of "AMD athlon II x2 @ #ghz" and when you enable "show hidden updates" you suddenly see a washed out "AMD athlon64 3400+" or some such then you know exactly which machine the original image was made on!)
Some of the better ones take a windows OEM disk and make a legitimate modified windows install disk (windows allows you to create custom installation disks. MS publishes the methods on how to do it and tools to use for it), such as integrating windows updates, integrating drivers, etc... There you STILL have major issues (I know, I used to make such disks myself and have read a lot about their use and creation)... check nliteos.com or vlite.net for tools that do most of that work for you for windows XP and vista respectively, and read the forums about some of the issues you can run into with such custom install disks. For example, you can save some space by combining CABs, but that will make your OS break when you install certain windows updates / service packs potentially released years after you have created the custom disk (happened to me personally)
Also it has been my experience that even if you follow everything that MS prescribes to the letter in creating such an OEM disk, and you do not do anything that deviates from their suggestions, you will still likely have issues.
Furthermore, they preload tons and tons of drivers; for example, HP machines come with drivers for every HP printer ever made preinstalled... which is useless to you, and just junks the machine up...
furtherfurthermore, such installations don't take into account your individual BIOS config. when you install windows from the windows CD, the settings you select in bios (ex, did you select to use S1, S3, or S1+S3 sleep mode in bios) affect the way windows install. also, this ties back into "different mobo then the one the image was made on"...
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