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Let's not rewrite history here, OEMs shipped a ton of preinstalled bloatware. If you got an image of XP from Microsoft, it was totally clean.

Contrary to today when Microsoft bundles bloatware directly with the OS itself. You can't install a clean copy because a clean copy just doesn't exist.

Now we get Microsoft delivered bloat and unwanted, pre-installed software. They'll even automatically install all the OEM junk when updating a fresh W10/11 install with a clean USB stick made from the MS iso. That didn't happen with a fresh XP install with a non-OEM disc.

And for those wanting even less bloat, to the point of removing drivers and other unwanted OS components, there is nLite. :)

https://www.nliteos.com/nlite.html

The key phrase is is "from manufacturers". Most power users and DIYers have always done fresh installs.

Oh I love McAfee preinstalled for me! /s