You can remove what applications you don't want, through the add/remove software.  However, some of the ISP "junk" is just a quicklink to install it.  It's not really "installed" on the PC.

What some do, after they startup the PC to make sure it's working OK, is to do a "clean" install - reformat the hard drive, install the OS, the Dell chipset drivers, and the Dell necessary applications and any optional Dell software that they want.  With that they have control over what is installed on the PC.

One thing to keep in mind with drivers is that much of what Dell supplies is custom OEM hardware and the custom OEM hardware must have Dell provided drivers rather than the Retail versions.

Thanks fireberd . . realize this is off topic but did post this question under harddisks section, my PC is also coming with two 160GB HD configured in RAID 1, I don't need the super dependability but would rather have the higher speed and higher capacity of RAID 0. To convert from RAID 1 to 0 similarly I'll probably have to reformat and start again?

Anyone seen any tips on doing this with a proprietary Dell system?

Thanks