Bloatware has plagued Windows computers since the beginning of time. But starting in Windows 10, bloatware may become a thing of the past.
Microsoft will attempt to eliminate bloatware on Windows 10 systems – but it’s probably not for the reasons you may think.
Is Microsoft doing this to increase usability? Nope. Is Microsoft trying to make sure users don’t get scammed into subscribing to a low-quality service they don’t need? Not really.
Instead…

Windows 10 is Banning Bloatware to Reduce Recovery Image Sizes

When you buy a Windows computer, it comes pre-loaded with unwanted utilities and programs. These programs slow down the system, reduce startup times, and, according to Microsoft, make the recovery image sizes too large to handle.
That’s right: Microsoft is planning to eliminate bloatware in order to reduce the size of the recovery image.

Windows uses that recovery image to – you guessed it – recover the computer if everything goes wrong. It’s basically a picture of the computer when it was healthy. You insert your recovery disk into your computer to get a fresh install of Windows.
In previous versions of Windows, Microsoft allowed manufacturers to create their own customized recovery images. These recovery images often included pre-installed crapware and bloatware. So if your nice, clean PC ever had something wrong with it, you might reinstall your computer only to realize you just reinstalled a bunch of stuff you didn’t need.
Microsoft apparently caught onto this practice and didn’t like it. Here’s what Microsoft had to say about it:
“We are also redesigning Windows’ Refresh and Reset functionalities to no longer use a separate recovery image (often preinstalled by manufacturers today) in order to bring Windows devices back to a pristine state. This reduces Windows’ storage footprint further as the recovery image on typical devices can range in size from 4GB to 12GB, depending on the make and model.”
One of the primary motivations behind Microsoft’s decision was the fact that Windows 10 will be installed on mobile devices like tablets and smartphones. These devices often have limited storage space. How much would it suck if you tried to reinstall Windows – only to realize that your manufacturer’s crapware add-ons filled up too much hard drive space?
Thanks to Microsoft, that shouldn’t be an issue in Windows 10.