I rather suggest Win 11 LTSC. The Windows 11 IoT Enterprise 2024 LTSC supposedly:
- doesn't have the tpm requirement
- no copilot, recall, edge browser, ms store
- allows local setup
- no feature updates, only security
- built-in options to disable telemetry
Keys go for $300 in some stores, or, one can use an activation emulator, or massgrave.
Scripts can be good for one-time use, but it's swimming against the current. As soon as you stop swimming, the current wins. With the LTSC, you don't swim against the current, but rather choose a different current. In its case, it's MS themselves who provide the debloating.
That does sounds like a dream but alas it is not all that “good”. I for one would be first in line though if Microsoft ever made a true bare bones dev focused shell or something or other; maybe a complete rethink on compute.
Of course, it's still a piece of shit Windows. But I have basically copied the list from multiple third party sources, so, what got listed are actual features of the LTSC. And I think it's better that what's achievable with debloating scripts, especially if one isn't running them over and over again.
Personally I gave up a long time ago and just installed Debian Linux. But it’s wild to me that the average non-technical/casual windows user has to put up with so much bs… it’s an atrocious ux
The best way to debloat Windows is to switch to Linux. I think that GNOME3 is now more polished than either Windows or Mac, and 95% of Windows games just run out of the box through Proton.
Yes and no. No, because sometimes Windows cannot be reasonably substituted, to no fault to the user. The usual suspects, multiplayer games, some software, when you need complete interoperability, etc.
By the way, that 95% is lower actually. If you count ProtonDB's Plat + Gold for the top 1000 played games on Steam, it's 81%. For plat+gold+silver, it's 89%.
Proton is getting there but even so, it doesn't make Linux+Proton a drop-in replacement for people who have used Windows all their lives.
For people with more technical background, who are enthusiasts about computers and software - sure. For a lot of casual users who need things to 'just work' the way they always have, asking them to swap to an entirely new OS is nonsense.
I'm considering it myself but even with years of experience on Linux I'm still cautious because of a lot of edge cases where something I use now wouldn't work or wouldn't work well in Linux.
- I am thinking of writing a very detailed post right here on HN on testing all the windows 11 debloat tools within a VM. My only question is how do I determine or say benchmark or measure which of these debloat tools works the best at the end?
I'd love to see data regarding maintenance. It's nice to debloat once, but does the debloat stick? How does it interplay with updates? Can I count on the script being updated for 1, 2, 5 years?
I am convinced MS has code in Windows which looks for de-bloating and then purposely slows things down. Or the code base has gotten to the point where things are so entangled that de-bloating leads to the slow down as every app tries to connect to telemetry or hook into Copilot and stumbles when the bloat is not there.
this script messes up pen tablet settings and destroyed usability with my wacom pen. Good script just don't use default settings if you use wacom stuff
16 comments
[ 1.8 ms ] story [ 39.2 ms ] thread- doesn't have the tpm requirement
- no copilot, recall, edge browser, ms store
- allows local setup
- no feature updates, only security
- built-in options to disable telemetry
Keys go for $300 in some stores, or, one can use an activation emulator, or massgrave.
Scripts can be good for one-time use, but it's swimming against the current. As soon as you stop swimming, the current wins. With the LTSC, you don't swim against the current, but rather choose a different current. In its case, it's MS themselves who provide the debloating.
By the way, that 95% is lower actually. If you count ProtonDB's Plat + Gold for the top 1000 played games on Steam, it's 81%. For plat+gold+silver, it's 89%.
Source: https://www.protondb.com/dashboard
For people with more technical background, who are enthusiasts about computers and software - sure. For a lot of casual users who need things to 'just work' the way they always have, asking them to swap to an entirely new OS is nonsense.
I'm considering it myself but even with years of experience on Linux I'm still cautious because of a lot of edge cases where something I use now wouldn't work or wouldn't work well in Linux.