Technology @lemmy.world Uninvited Guest @lemmy.ca 8mo ago

Help me navigate the world of debloated/custom Windows 11 Installs

I've never had to use Windows 11. I have Windows 10 on my main machine and toy around with different Linux distros on my spares.

Now that I'm building a computer for my folks, I'm faced with the real problem that Windows 11 is going to be a big shift for them (also using windows 10) and it's going to contain so much crap (Copilot, Start Menu ads, etc) that is going to ruin the experience/overwhelm/turn them off.

I've read, with passing interest, about the myriad of "debloated" Windows installs, but never took a serious look at what is going on and what is good. Here's where I hope c/technology can point me in the right direction. Thanks!

Edit - I should have known to expect the Linux suggestions despite specifically asking about modifications to Windows. Linux is not an option due legacy software compatibility - they do more than use a browser.

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I think there are two options personally.

The Windows 11 LTSC version just leaked on Chinese forums. I wouldn't use that ISO but would wait for the official release. Seems like the "best" version of Windows.

Use Chris Titus' WinUtil on a normal install: https://github.com/ChrisTitusTech/winutil. He has put a lot of effort into this tool and it works great.

If you want to go full try-hard you can do it yourself. Buy NTLite and go to town on stripping stuff out. You'll probably break something but it is fun to play with.
- Oh nice! A new tool! Do you happen to know how this compares to win10privacy?
  
  Never used that tool so I can't really say :(
- You should be able to download the Win11 LTSC direct from MS (pretty sure that's where I got mine).
  
  That's supposedly a time/feature limited version, but if you use the licensing script (also from Microsoft), it will permanently activate it.
  
  I have it activated in a VM I'm testing.
  
  Someone else mentioned the Windows 10 LTSC, good to know there is one for 11 as well. I'll go research these a bit more, thank you.
  
  The machine I'm fixing up has an embedded license. Think I'll need to toy with the activation script?
  
  I've never toyed with an embedded license, wonder how that works.
  
  I'm cautiously optimistic it doesn't matter. Give it a try, worst that happens is it doesn't work.
  
  LTSC is kind or necessary for devices that need to just run without updates messing with them.

43 comments