The recovery image eats up a lot of space, Microsoft claims

Feb 7, 2013 08:32 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft will soon launch the Surface with Windows 8, with the device to be offered in two different versions depending on how much space you need.

The 128 GB model, however, provides only 83 GB of free storage space, while the 64 GB version has only 23 GB of available space. It’s all because of Windows 8 and the recovery image that are both eating quite a lot of space, the Surface team said in an AMA session on Reddit.

“We designed Surface Pro (and the allocation of disk space on our systems) to have the power of full Windows 8, the ability to have a simplified and fast upgrade to full Office and the confidence of a recovery image already available on your device,” the Surface team said while pointing out that it was also possible to expand storage capacity with the help of a microSD card, SkyDrive cloud storage and an external USB 3.0 storage device.

And still, the 64 GB version has quite a lot of space for those who wish to install large applications, such as games and productivity tools, Microsoft said.

But isn’t an USB flash drive with the recovery image a much better choice to preserve space on the Surface Pro? No, Microsoft said, because chances are that you are going to lose it.

“We could have done this, but then there would be a chance it would be lost. We give you the ability to make one if you choose and free up the space,” the Surface team said.

The company admits that, in some cases, the recovery image won’t be needed at all, but it’s just a way to make sure that users are on the safe side all the time. Of course, those more experienced can remove the recovery image and free up some space without too much effort.

“Ideally, you will never need your recovery image, however this is a choice we would prefer the customer to make vs. having the customer need the recovery image not realizing they needed to create one themselves,” the team concluded.