Microsoft's Windows installation files have ballooned to more than 8 GB, doubling in size over the past decade, according to a new analysis published by ZDNET's Ed Bott. The growth has accelerated sharply in the past two years, driven largely by artificial intelligence code bundled with Windows updates. Even users without AI-capable hardware are forced to download gigabytes of machine learning models their systems will never use.
Windows deployment specialist Michael Niehaus documented the spike by tracking multi-edition downloads from Microsoft's Visual Studio subscriptions. Between the initial release of Windows 11 version 24H2 in November 2024 and version 25H2 in July 2026, nearly 6,000 new folders and over 20,000 new files were added in less than two years. The latest ISO file downloaded via Microsoft's Media Creation Tool weighs in at 6.8 GB, nearly double the size of the original Windows 10 release from 2015. Installing Windows 11 on a virtual machine with a 64 GB drive consumed 28.2 GB of storage before any applications or user files were added—roughly half the total capacity.
According to Niehaus, who spent 16 years at Microsoft working on Windows deployment, cumulative updates now include "a massive amount of AI-related code, specifically 3GB of shared AI models" used by local AI features on Copilot+ PCs. "Is Windows getting bigger? Yes," he told Bott. "Are updates getting bigger? Yes. Does Copilot+ make it worse? Yes, much worse." The AI files consist of dozens of WindowsWorkload files dedicated to machine learning tasks, yet Windows installer ignores these components on systems lacking a neural processing unit.
The report points to Microsoft's decision to ship these massive code packages through monthly Windows Update cumulative downloads rather than distributing them as modular system components via the Microsoft Store. Windows 11 already delivers some critical components through the Store, which reduces the burden on Windows Update and eliminates the need for restarts after installation. Moving the oversized AI packages to the Store would let Microsoft manage them more selectively, delivering them only to systems that can actually run the features. The bloat creates particular challenges for anyone deploying Windows across corporate networks or maintaining machines with Microsoft's official minimum of 64 GB system storage. Niehaus argues that 128 GB should be the bare minimum, with anyone doing development or creative work requiring a terabyte of capacity.