Sony has backpedalled on charging customers $50 to have bloatware removed from their new PC following a mass of criticism online over the Easter weekend.

According to the company Sony will now "offer Fresh Start free of charge".

The move comes just days after Sony said that customers of its Vaio laptop range looking to get their new laptop free of trail software would have to pay a $50 premium in the US.

At the time Sony justified the costs by saying that the new laptop would "undergo a system optimistation service where specific VAIO applications, trial software and games are removed from your unit prior to shipment", and that such a move would "safely scrubs your PC to free up valuable hard drive space and conserve memory and processing power while maximizing overall system performance right from the start".

>> News - Sony to charge to remove trial software from Vaio range