Windows can suck the life out of ANY computer. When 3.10 came out, it took 6 floppys to load it (total of about 8.6 mb) and now XP takes 6 CD's for a total of about 4.5 GB. Over FIVE HUNDRED TIMES larger. Instead of troubleshooting properly, they just write around bad code and leave the crap in there.
The early Atari 2600 cartridges were 2K ROM, and it's possible to do a very playable game in 1K (Thomas Jentzsch's Splatform, e.g.). I think the largest single-game Atari 2600 cartridges were 32K. Since 1977, games have grown in size A MILLIONFOLD.
Every one of the dozens of Windows XP installations I have ever performed, including Windows XP Professional 64-bit Edition, has come on a single CD-ROM. The initial install is about 1.5 GB, uncompressed.
That said, I agree with your statement about Windows sucking the life out of a computer. "What Intel giveth, Microsoft taketh away." :-/