One of the first things many users do after finishing a fresh Windows 10 installation is to remove its built-in apps. Redmond's vision of "Windows as a service" clashes head-on with the desire for a clean and efficient environment, so the market has responded by launching a series of programs and tricks to clean up the operating system. One such program is Bloatbox, currently in beta, which offers a direct and no-frills way to delete apps.
Quite a few portals recommend "leaving Windows as is" to avoid trouble, but 25 years of accumulated experience have taught us that we cannot grant the benefit of the doubt. Windows always has room to become lighter and more efficient. Unfortunately, Windows 10 is no exception, and with nearly five years on the market (it turns next Wednesday), it still repeats several of its bad habits, starting with the installation of unwanted apps.
What's the user's response? Remove them, of course. PowerShell commands, dedicated programs, cleanup scripts. From O&O AppBuster to Windows10Debloater, passing through everything in between, and with frequent updates to stay one step ahead of Redmond (or at least try). What's next on the list? A new candidate: Bloatbox.
How to remove Windows 10 apps with Bloatbox
The developer of Bloatbox is the same one who created Spydish, a replacement for the now-discontinued Debotnet. The idea was that Bloatbox would work as a plugin or extension for Spydish, but instead of increasing the size of that program, he decided to make Bloatbox an independent tool. The interface has a Spartan design, and in general it is not intended for beginners.
Installed apps appear on the left, and if you click Show System Apps, more hidden items will be added. All apps retain their original names without advanced descriptions, so you'll have to Google each one if you don't recognize them. Some of them definitely should stay on the system (for example, anything related to the Store), and it's never a bad idea to make a backup beforehand, or experiment inside a virtual machine (if something ends up broken, let it be there). If you remove with Bloatbox, there's no going back.
Now, Bloatbox is not perfect. First, it's clearly a beta build, and second, there are some apps it fails to uninstall. In the specific case of Windows 10 2004, "MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS" (Windows User Experience) resisted our attempts, even with administrator privileges. In short, Bloatbox is a work in progress, and beyond its current limitations, it deserves our attention.
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