Windows LTSC, De-Bloated Win10 for Gaming

[Deactivated] on 04/04/2023 - 23:13
Last edited 05/04/2023 - 23:23

Long planned thing, finally did it. So far Steam, AMD drivers and games are running flawless. No Office install planned.

Steps here. Download Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC . iso has "IOT" in filename, but setup actually asks, IOT Win10 or plain Win10. Burn the USB using Rufus, use GPT and NTFS.

Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) is designed for Windows 10 devices and use cases where the key requirement is that functionality and features don’t change over time. Examples include medical systems (such as those used for MRI and CAT scans), industrial process controllers.

It is coming unmodified directly from Microsoft. But it comes stripped down, like start menu has only few Administrative tasks and nothing more. And no annoying big updates, only security fixes.

Question, is it smart move? I got sick of Cortana and Win 11 sell pitches, and I like lean software in general. Is the MAS activation script safe?

Computing Microsoft Operating System

Comments

  • avoidfullprice on 04/04/2023 - 23:19
    -4

    I’m am so smart, S-M-R-T

    • [Deactivated] on 04/04/2023 - 23:27
      +1

      sharing here, not bragging.

  • dcep on 04/04/2023 - 23:20

    is this piracy ?

    • [Deactivated] on 04/04/2023 - 23:29

      Please dig through MAS code and tell us. I have a few legit keys, but they are for consumer Windows versions. I wanted LTSC.

  • Italkdigital on 05/04/2023 - 01:39
    +2

    Isn't there a worry these versions of Windows have been modified were they could potentially be harrmful to use? I'm no expert concerning operating systems well love to know as be nice to use a un-bloated Windows version

    Edit: I only see Windows 10 Enterprise IoT version? So no Windows 10 Pro IoT versions?

    • [Deactivated] on 05/04/2023 - 10:11
      +1

      Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) is designed for Windows 10 devices and use cases where the key requirement is that functionality and features don’t change over time. Examples include medical systems (such as those used for MRI and CAT scans), industrial process controllers.

      It is coming unmodified directly from Microsoft. But it comes stripped down, like start menu has only few Administrative tasks and nothing more. And no annoying big updates, only security fixes.

  • GordonD on 05/04/2023 - 09:08

    NTDEV is a well know source of safe cutdown versions of Windows you can download and install.

    There's a cutdown version of Windows 10 LTSC. Which I understand requires an LTSC activation key, which most people will have trouble getting, unless you want to run it unactivated and lose some functionality.

    https://www.tomshardware.com/news/tiny10-version-2303-is-upd…

    There's a cutdown version of Windows 11 Pro called Tiny11. It can be installed on PCs that Windows 11 doesn't support.

    https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/make-lightweight-windows…

    If you want to use these, try to get them directly from NTDEV, because anything anyone else is distributing may have had unknown nasties added to it.

    https://archive.org/details/tiny-10_202301

    https://archive.org/details/tiny-11-NTDEV

    • [Deactivated] on 05/04/2023 - 10:28

      This is different, LTSC comes unmodified from MS. And how NTDEV version deals with endless updates MS will be pushing down on you?

      • GordonD on 05/04/2023 - 12:18

        Yes, sorry, I completely misunderstood the title of the thread you created. I thought you were talking about "Windows 10 LTSC, debloated". Which is what Tiny10 is.

        I didn't think it was possible to obtain Windows 10 LTSC version unless you were an "enterprise". That Microsoft simply didn't sell it to the rest of us. Tell, how would the rest of us actually obtain a copy of LTSC?

        • [Deactivated] on 05/04/2023 - 12:38

          I posted steps :)

  • brendanm on 05/04/2023 - 09:11

    What is the downside to these? Seems like only upsides so far unless some core functionality is removed.

    • GordonD on 05/04/2023 - 09:16

      Loss of functionality that SOME software may require. And it might turn out to be something important to YOU. Microsoft doesn't include the functionality NTDEV removes for no reason.

      No or limited updates.

      Running unlicenced operating system. Remember though that Microsoft doesn't force you to activate/licence Windows, it just reduces the functionality available if you don't. And it could be argued that Tiny10 and Tiny11 just do the same,

      Microsoft may only allow this whilever it generates interest in its products, and may decide to shut it down if it results in too much loss of revenue.

      YOU don't know what NTDEV has done to Windows. There could be something in there that'll bite you and everyone else using them on the bum some time down the track.

  • Bid Sniper on 05/04/2023 - 10:30

    just use group policy to disable things annoying you. wont see any gains in FPS

    • [Deactivated] on 05/04/2023 - 11:21

      Updates annoyed me :) LTSC will fetch only security fixes and drivers, imho.

      • Bid Sniper on 05/04/2023 - 11:28

        I get more updates for my steam library games than windows.

  • povogamer on 05/04/2023 - 10:31

    I thought it might be a bad idea for gaming due to not getting updates, but after reading about experiences of LTSC users apparently there are no issues and you can get driver updates just fine. I may actually consider doing this next time I install Windows.

    Btw you might want to remove the explanation on how to install it since I think that's what someone deemed "illegal/inappropriate" enough to report…

  • djsweet on 05/04/2023 - 11:08
    +1

    MAS is safe. Legal? not sure. I mean it doesn't really do anything illegal. Microsoft is the one who ultimately activates your Windows. If MS is dumb enough to activate it when you provide verifiably bogus information that's on them.

  • xxBARGAINGODxx on 05/04/2023 - 17:04
    +1

    MAS is safe. Your main annoyance will be related to Windows store issues, but there are ways around it and it is much easier to navigate than it used to be. Overall I'd say the upsides far outweigh the downsides.

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