Microsoft has promised that the company's next operating system, Windows 10, will be made available across every device, from top-of-the-line desktops with server-like hard drives, to low-cost smartphones and tablets with only gigabytes on their memory. However, one of the challenges the company will face is how to adapt the new operating system to devices with different memory capacities. One way of doing this would be to trim down Windows 10 and stripping the much-awaited operating system down to its core.
Microsoft seems to be thinking along these lines. In a post on its official blog site, the company details how it plans to reduce Windows 10's footprints so it could be fitted into small-memory devices.
One method Microsoft already uses is file compression. In its market build operating system, Windows 10 build 9879, OS files can be shrunk to save the needed disk space by at least 1.5 GB for 32-bit editions, and 2.6 GB for 64-bit builds. This compression method will work on a case-to-case basis, since Windows will automatically analyze a user's device when it prompts an upgrade to its operating system. The analysis will check which files can be shrunk down to save space.
Also, Windows 10 can work without a "separate recovery image," according to Microsoft. This option allows laptops, desktops, and tablets with minimum memory space to imitate a smartphone's mobile OS, only making a back-up of necessary files and other much-needed items. This, along with the operating system's "Refresh and Reset" feature, further saves up to 12 gigabytes of storage.
Reducing the memory and storage footprints is not only limited to the new operating system. In the same post, the company states how the team significantly reduced Windows 8.1's RAM usage via a configuration called WIMBOOT.
According to the post, "WIMBOOT enabled specially prepared Windows 8.1 devices to have all the goodness of an efficient compression algorithm without compromise to responsiveness."
