The next Windows 10 update will require a lot more free space on the hard drive. Behind this decision could be old problems
As widely expected and already announced several months ago, the next Windows 10 update will take up more space on our hard drive. Much more space than before, much more space than was even assumed. If initially there was talk of 7 GB of space "stolen" from Windows, the latest numbers are much higher.
The confirmation came from a recent update to the minimum system requirements to install Windows, in which Microsoft announces that starting from version 1903 of Windows 10 will serve to make space on the disk. Until the previous semi-annual update, the ill-fated 2018 October Update that brought the version of Windows 10 to 1809, to install 32-bit Win 10 you needed 16 GB of disk space, for the 64-bit version you needed 20 GB. For the 32-bit Enterprise version, 16 GB was needed, and for the 64-bit Enterprise, finally, 20 GB of disk space was needed.
How much space is needed for Windows 10 version 1903
Starting with Windows 10 version 1903 (expected release: end of May 2019), the new free disk space requirements are as follows:
-Windows 10 Home 32-bit: 32 GB
-Windows 10 Home 64-bit: 32 GB
-Windows 10 Enterprise 32-bit: 16 GB
-Windows 10 Enterprise 64-bit: 20 GB
As you can see right away, then, apart from the two Enterprise versions that have remained unchanged, both 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows 10 1903 will require a lot more disk space. Compared to the previous version 1809 it goes up by a good 16 GB for the 32-bit operating system and a good 12 GB for the 64-bit one. All other system requirements, however, remain unchanged.
Why Windows 10 wants more disk space
For all Windows users who have a not-so-large disk size, such as an SSD, having 12 or even 16 GB less space is quite a hassle. But, paradoxically, the pros might be more than the cons: up until Windows 10 version 1809, in fact, Microsoft's operating system has shown several problems when disk space starts running low. On version 1809, for example, many users have complained about drastic slowdowns of the operating system when it's about to run out of space. For this reason, then, Microsoft has decided to "play it safe" by reserving a larger slice of the main disk in order to limit (or postpone? Who knows...) the problems for users.