What if it was not recommended to use Microsoft PC Manager ? In any case, it would be preferable to wait a little before putting your optimization tool favorite aside.
CCleaner has some issues to worry about. The software well known to many Windows users has, in recent days, had a major competitor developed by Microsoft itself.
With PC Manager, you might think our computers are in good hands. Who better than the Windows editor to provide a tool calibrated to perfection? However, behind this new application there are some gray areas that do not allow us to completely trust it.
Do as I say, not as I do
The main mission of PC Manager is to optimize Windows performance. To do this, it will, among other things, eliminate data that could be considered superfluous. We still need to agree on what can or cannot be eliminated. And it is on this point that the Microsoft teams do not seem to agree.
Indeed, when the user chooses the option “ Deep cleaning », PC Manager offers to purge the Windows Prefetch folder. However, as revealed by our colleagues from Neowinexperts from the American firm have been advising against doing so for years, and for good reason.
The goal of this file is already to improve system performance. By saving application data, it allows them to be restarted more quickly each time they are used for a smoother experience. Removing Windows Prefetch content, however, does not harm Windows and may even save some disk space, at least initially.
Indeed, applications whose data has been deleted will launch more slowly the next time they are opened, before gradually reoccupying the same disk space as before.
PC Manager: a trusted tool?
Let’s be honest, Microsoft doesn’t seem to be totally fooling us. After all, this is a deep clean, so you might as well purge everything that can be purged, right? PC Manager, however, promises us better performance, which will clearly not be the case initially with this option. So, what is the American firm playing at? Difficult to say at the moment. But there remain other rather singular points which give rise to skepticism.
Indeed, Neowin went further in his analysis. The media discovered affiliate links in the “ Toolbox “, leading to web pages from developers based in China, one of which is directly linked to Microsoft. Software is offered for purchase there, and it is likely that the American company, or whoever created PC Manager, receives a commission for each sale or visit to these pages. However, this takes us back to the beginnings of the tool, first spotted on Chinese-language sites in 2022.
If these facts are not totally aggravating for the tool, we are far from the trusting experience that we would be entitled to expect from software branded Microsoft. It remains to be seen how things will evolve as PC Manager is deployed, which still seems unavailable to some users in France.
Source : Neowin
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