Opening a brand new Acer Aspire S7 is just about as good a laptop unboxing experience as you can get. The box has that fresh, new-car smell and when you lift the razor thin, Gorilla Glass-covered lid, the high-res screen illuminates to life.

And then it all comes to a screeching halt. Inside the traditional Windows desktop, you'll find eight—eight!—preloaded icons lining the right edge of the screen, including shortcuts to eBay and Acer's websites and pre-installed—but not necessarily desired—programs like Norton Online Backup,...