Microsoft released PowerToys 0.63 this week, a stability release that doesn’t introduce new features. What makes this game special is that Microsoft managed to significantly reduce the size of PowerToys installer and installation folder on the Windows device.
Most PowerToys users may not even notice the chance, if they update using the app’s built-in update feature. Some may spot it later, when checking the storage distribution using tools like WizTree or Treesize Free.
Here are the details of the achievement: PowerToys installer size has been increased from 125 megabytes to 83 megabytes in this release. It’s been reduced by about a third, which is a substantial decrease, especially for low-speed connected users downloading the installer.
PowerToys install size decreased from 817 megabytes to 587 megabytes, about a quarter less. The developers managed to do this by “sharing Windows App SDK, VC++ redistributable, and PowerToys Interop runtime files between utilities.”
You could say that PowerToys is still quite big for what it does, especially if only one or two tools are used frequently. One of the great advantages of software is that there is always a choice when it comes to it. If you don’t want the still huge PowerToys on a system, you can check out alternatives that replicate a single tool.
PowerToys currently offers 12 utilities in total in the stable release, and most are fairly easy to replicate. Take Always on Top as an example. Instead of using the PowerToys tool, you can use Window TopMost Control, OnTopper, OnTopReplica, or one of twelve other “always on top” programs.
PowerToys 0.63 includes a number of fixes for various tools and the underlying code of the entire tool collection. Check official release notes to learn more about them.
Now you: do you use PowerToys or something else?
Summary
Article name
Microsoft significantly reduces the size of PowerToys in the latest version
The description
Microsoft managed to significantly reduce the size of its open source PowerToys collection in the latest release.
Author
Martin Brinkman
Editor
Ghacks Technology News
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