Flatter, uglier, lighter?

[VirtualLarry]

I used to eradicate Vista off laptops and computers left and right. First back to XP then to Windows 7 when it came out. The same hardware was always faster with either OS over Vista and virtually everyone I upgraded was thankful.

There's since been an attempt at history revision over Vista but itwas a dog.

I agree.

 

[tential]

That isn't terrible. I really hope that they figure out a way to update different than previous versions. Like actually 'deleting' the update files once they are applied.

That's prob my biggest issue with Windows. It's like they do it intentionally to consume more space so that it fragments files more so that the system slows to a crawl and makes people think they need to buy a new computer or OS. </conspiracy theory>

How big of a swap........ er, pagefile is it using/requiring?

I feel you. My OS size ALWAYS grows to the point where it's eating up a large portion of my drive space. I need to reinstall windows on my desktop but really really don't want to. An OS that doesn't essentially REQUIRE a reinstall would be really really nice.

 

[postmortemIA]

MS has a way built in to the default install a) clean updates b) clean up winSXS c) clean up the install stores d) remove features from the package stores.

Not sure what you are complaining about when you can strip windows 7 down to about 6GB or less. Our VDI image for windows 7 is 5.2GB, fully updated, prior to applications and I didn't even try "that hard."

I know how to clean up the installer folder. That removes backup of updates. But not WinSXS.. how do you do that?

 

[imagoon]

I know how to clean up the installer folder. That removes backup of updates. But not WinSXS.. how do you do that?

You use DISM to remove the packages. You can use it to uninstall packages that are not in add remove programs. Once they are uninstalled you can completely remove the package. Some times it can take while because you need to remove patch groups at times also.

 

[escrow4]

They always say its lighter, but it never is. What you have is classical bs, better known in the political sphere. Rest assured when all is said and done, Windows 10 installations will be bigger and more bloated than Windows 8. And they will have more processes, threads, and handles, chewing up more cpu cycles.

So? Its 2015. We have the hardware. Use it. Is your P4 not up to it?

 

[Mem]

I like the Aero feature of Win7 and I have the option to turn it off. The least they could do was to have the option in Win8 and Win10.

As far as space requirements go, I wonder why you care considering today's disk capacities. And almost everyone here has a second spinner disk for other files.

I never understood the Aero fan base,it's not important(only eye candy at best) and before Vista never existed,it's not like it's hard to get Windows looking decent without it,as to bloat in Microsoft OS well last lean OS by Microsoft was DOS 6.22 on three floppies,times have changed however where hardware now is more powerful with wider range of different hardware and even software,balancing what you need without bloat is always going to be a personal thing depending on what you prefer.

End of the day Microsoft always remove things,Aero was not the first or the last so why are you surprised?..Removing features etc happens even in Linux.

Side note: You want a modern lean OS try a light Linux distro ,probably won't find anything leaner.

 

[PingSpike]

MS has a way built in to the default install a) clean updates b) clean up winSXS c) clean up the install stores d) remove features from the package stores.

Not sure what you are complaining about when you can strip windows 7 down to about 6GB or less. Our VDI image for windows 7 is 5.2GB, fully updated, prior to applications and I didn't even try "that hard."

Upon googling it seems MS has added an update late last year that allows disk cleanup to remove update cruft from the WinSXS folder in Windows 7. I gained 7GB from running it. The WinSXS on my heavily used work PC remains at 10+GB after running it though.

Windows isn't that bad when its first installed, and I don't doubt you can get the base install down. But it seems to grow as you install things in a way that makes little sense.

 

[imagoon]

Upon googling it seems MS has added an update late last year that allows disk cleanup to remove update cruft from the WinSXS folder in Windows 7. I gained 7GB from running it. The WinSXS on my heavily used work PC remains at 10+GB after running it though.

Windows isn't that bad when its first installed, and I don't doubt you can get the base install down. But it seems to grow as you install things in a way that makes little sense.

It actually makes a lot of sense. WinSXS is a dependency manager just like Linux uses. It even uses symlinks for files (like Linux.) As you install packages old editions can be retained for other less well behaved applications. If you want to force the issue, you can remove these alternates view DISM, which on of the functions it performs is package manager maintenance. You can use also use it to remove idle packages or strip them out entirely when building a custom install DVD / USB stick. The idea is that even if you never install "Games" a package for that is placed in WinSXS that allows you to install that feature without the DVD. You can remove that entire package and then require the DVD to install.

The Disk Manager update simply automates something you could already do with DISM. Not that I complain as it does make it a lot easier.