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Microsoft Plans Version of Windows 10 For Devices With Limited Storage (engadget.com)

An anonymous reader shares a report: A smaller, more pared down version of Windows 10 was spotted in the latest Redstone 5 preview build. Microsoft is calling it Windows 10 Lean and it's 2GB smaller in size than standard editions of Windows 10 once installed. Missing from this version are the Registry Editor, Internet Explorer, wallpaper, Microsoft Management Console and drivers for CD and DVD drives, and Windows Central notes that the lighter Windows 10 might be designed to ensure tablets and laptops with little internal storage can install Windows 10 feature updates. Additionally, the Redstone 5 preview also features phone-related APIs that support functions like dialing, blocking withheld numbers, video calling, Bluetooth headset support and speakerphone mode, stoking those persistent Andromeda rumors.

21 of 142 comments (clear)

  1. Microsoft jettisons telemetry code to reduce size by olsmeister · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Just kidding! Get rid of the useless stuff first, like registry editor and DVD drivers.

  2. Say it like it is.... by bobbied · · Score: 2

    "Device with limited storage" == "Phone" or "Tablet"

    So this says that Windows 10 is targeted for embedded devices like phones and tablets... So the death of Window's phones was announced prematurely then?

    --
    "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
  3. Wow by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If they're jettisoning wallpaper, it seems like they're scraping the bottom of the barrel. Even Windows 95 had wallpaper.

    I would suggest to them that they could try getting rid of all of those spam applet tiles in the start menu. That would certainly free up more space than a couple of wallpaper jpegs.

    1. Re: Wow by Lonewolf666 · · Score: 2

      Which means that in a few years, the only decent Windows version will be some sort of Windows 10 LTSB with the telemetry disabled.

      Sadly, LTSB is currently only available for companies and organizations. There MAY be some pirate versions around, but I think I'll take another route:
      Dual boot with Linux as OS for real work and Windows for games. In the optimistic assumption that Microsoft won't bother to implement an EXT4 driver just to snoop around the other drives.
      *grabs tinfoil hat*

      --
      C - the footgun of programming languages
  4. regedit is 328kb by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    You guys are completely insane.

  5. Removed RegEdit? by Train0987 · · Score: 2

    How much space does Registry Editor take? Good lord.

  6. Limited storage by iTrawl · · Score: 2

    I feel so luck to have a device with unlimited storage. Windows can grow and grow and I never run out of space. Yet somehow I never have enough free space for my stuff... It's like each time my storage increases Windows catches up.

    --
    "Everybody's naked underneath" -- The Doctor
  7. regedit.exe is 313K by pruss · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I feel a bit paranoid here: I doubt they removed regedit just to save 313K.

    1. Re:regedit.exe is 313K by xack · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Regedit is used for disabling telemetry which Microsoft dosen’t want. If Microsoft was serious about a lean Windows they could revive minwin or even Windows XP.

    2. Re:regedit.exe is 313K by iampiti · · Score: 2

      Nah. The real goal is to make a more limited, mobile-like OS. The user must be prevented from controlling the system

  8. Re:Microsoft jettisons telemetry code to reduce si by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I was already worried they might dump the telemetry code. I mean, I can live without DVD drivers, without the ability to fix Registry entries after their update shoots the system in the foot and being able to manage the system, but MS not knowing that I still diligently dig through the system to squelch Cortana, get rid of the Windows Shop (or whatever they call that iTunes Store and Steam spoof/mockup), remove their "cloud" connection (insert vaporware joke here) and get rid of all the other ridiculous bloatware they cram down my throat ... I mean, why do you think I spend my evenings after updates ripping that crap out if it doesn't piss off MS that I refuse to use more of their shit than I absolutely have to?

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  9. Re:There goes mobile ... by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Funny

    If you only have a hammer, every problem looks like a thumb...

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  10. Long overdue and very needed for niche devices. by Cytotoxic · · Score: 2

    I am posting from a cheap windows netbook that I picked up for under a hundred bucks at Wal-mart. It does the job perfectly - provides a nice screen and good connectivity for browsing, web apps, email and video streaming. It has nice long battery life. And no hard drive. Just a tiny 32 gig "solid state drive". It does have an SD slot, but that gets treated as removable media, so installing stuff there is limited.

    This means that after the first update to Windows downloaded the entire drive was full. I had to do some hoop-jumping just to get it completed. It has since pared itself down enough that I have 5 gigs free. Trimming 2 more gigs would be a great thing.

  11. Hey MS? Open for suggestions? by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Instead of getting rid of the registry editor, which weighs in at about 400k, how about getting rid of Cortana? I have a hunch the lady is heavier than a few k.

    While we're at it, there's a bunch more of your crapware you dumped into the system I can't get rid of, maybe scrape them out too while you're at it? It's not like Win10 comes without a ton of unwanted, unnecessary and outright useless crap preinstalled. Not installing that would probably be where I'd start before removing drivers and system management tools.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  12. Re:Windows Reserved Space by Killall+-9+Bash · · Score: 5, Funny

    We are the Microsoft. Disabling updates is futile. Your telemetry and online identity will be added to our database. Your GUI will be adapted to service the Microsoft.

    --
    "Prediction: within 10 years, Windows will be a Linux distribution." Me, 7-6-2016
  13. Nice simple UI by sproketboy · · Score: 2

    A blue screen only.

  14. Re:Microsoft jettisons telemetry code to reduce si by pecosdave · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Seriously? How big is a DVD driver?

    Back in the day when I worked on lots of DOS systems I used to have to load the Mitsumi driver on floppy disk, usually after having booted to said floppy disk. The Mitsumi driver took up so little room on the floppy I didn't even consider it in my "space budget" when figuring out what I was going to put on a floppy and what I was going to leave out.

    FLOPPY

    I'm going to go out on a limb without actually testing it, and assume that if I were to boot to DOS from a floppy on a modern system with legacy support on (because honestly how are you going to boot to a floppy otherwise?) I could likely use the latest SATA Mitsumi driver to access data on a CDROM in the latest BluRay drive as long as the BIOS is setup with ATAPI support on SATA, which it usually is. I'm not going to go so far as to guess I could access a DVD or BluRay simply because I don't trust the huge file system to be accessible on such an old OS.

    I would guess optical drive access overall would be kernel level these days.

    Anyone want to test this?

    Removing IE was a good idea, the registry editor, meh, MMC - hey as long as we're remove lots of stuff tablet users not on a domain won't need sure. I've got an idea to save space - how about NOT installing Candy Crush, Adobe Photoshop Express, Duolingo, Translator, and a host of other things while I'm not looking and wait for user request? I'm sure even the smallest of these programs far outweighs a DVD driver.

    --
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  15. Re:There goes mobile ... by UnknowingFool · · Score: 5, Informative

    I can't believe you FOSS tards still think "bloat" is the problem (as you browse the internets using an i386 compatible kernel).

    Bloat is a huge problem for Windows. Unlike Windows, you can customize Linux to work on different devices with varying amounts of resources. For example, you can run RedHat Enterprise 2.3 requires only 4GB of disk space. That's server software. Ubuntu with all the bells and whistles need 25GB but that can be cut down to 5GB. Windows 10 at a minimum currently requires 16GB. That doesn't include all the additional libraries like .NET that you might need to make things work.

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  16. Re:Microsoft jettisons telemetry code to reduce si by fizzer06 · · Score: 2

    I bought a external USB floppy drive and am able to boot the computer from it. Either I got lucky or it's pretty much standard.

  17. Re:feature updates by AlanBDee · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Recently I've found Microsoft much more helpful. For instance I recently had to replace a motherboard on a PC that I had upgraded to Windows 10 from Windows 7, an OEM licence I bought nearly a decade ago. When I contacted their support to transfer the license they didn't event bother to ask, they just gave me a new key. Technically as an OEM license it should not have transferred. Had they not done that I probably would have just started using Ubuntu with Kodi; it's a media center.

  18. Re:There goes mobile ... by UnknowingFool · · Score: 2

    It does not matter even _one_ bit. In a datacenter we'll just set the standard VM starting disk size to 50+ GB regardless of OS, probably dedupe it all on the array at the block level, and a few tens of GB difference hasn't meant squat for any system with its own local disks in many years.

    Linux is used for many things besides data centers.

    It's not really worth the effort to trim a default Linux install at any scale unless you are installing it on some old 72 GB SCSI drives, or your toaster.

    Again, Linux is used for many things besides data centers. For example, my router runs Tomato which does not have 72GB of space. I have Intel NUC which has 20GB of space which I used as a print server for a while.

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.