Windows Vista

20150402
http://blogs.technet.com/b/askcore/archive/2008/09/17/what-is-the-winsxs-directory-in-windows-2008-and-windows-vista-and-why-is-it-so-large.aspx
What is the WINSXS directory in Windows 2008 and Windows Vista and why is it so large?
A commonly asked question among people looking at a Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 installation is “why is the WinSxS folder so big?!” To answer that question I need to first describe componentization, and how components are managed in Windows Vista.

WRH: So basically Microsoft designed these systems to eventually overflow their own disks to "encourage" the customer to buy a new machine!