Just baught a compaq laptop with vista...

And, for some reason, HP thought it was a great idea to put a whole crapload of "trial software" and games, and yahoo toolbar, and a bunch of other "setup your computer" programs, that apparently all need updates.

NOw that they've ruined my clean version of VISTA, I have no freakin idea what i can get rid of, and what I can't.  Anybody else had a simmilar problem?

M$ bashing is for noobs with no computing skills. You probably arent going to be doing anything serious on that thing, so there is no need for Linux. Re-format and re-install Vista, then give it a shot. Then if you decide that you are going to get some fucking work done, try Linux. Otherwise, dont listen to these noobwhores.