this post was submitted on 03 Dec 2024
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People found out about the Win10 IoT LTSC version, which Microsoft alleges to be supporting for 10 more years.
It comes with basically zero of the M$ bloat that everyone hates, as well. It's just Windows.
I just installed it on my father's new (old) laptop, because he is not ready for Linux yet -- possibly ever.
It has no:
It does come with Edge.
Because it does not have the Microsoft Store you have to manually install anything that comes as a store app from the command line. I was taken by surprise that the Duckduckgo browser is packaged this way. But you can still do it. Normal programs install just fine.
Yes, you can use it for gaming.
Edit: I guess I forgot to drop the obligatory link to https://massgrave.dev/ , which is how I found out about this and got it running. Also hosted there is a tool that allows you to... license... various Microsoft products including your shiny new Win10 IoT install.
holy fuck that sounds absolutely awesome. why wasn't I on this version to begin with hahah
Just adding that 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC is also super solid and great for gaming, ~~no bullshit installed, just Edge + Defender~~. I disable Edge- instead of uninstalling- with a tool that just breaks it, since Edge always gets installed again eventually.
I got it from that same site, been problem free for months now. I only went with 11since my 5800X3D is still fairly new.
Edit: Fine, no bullshit other than Edge + Defender.
Pick one
Edge isn't that bad. You need something to download Firefox with.
The bullshit is when every windows link insists on opening in edge rather then your default browser.
winget install Mozilla.Firefox
Winget makes fresh Windows installs much less painful!
Just incase it helps anyone: For the 11 IoT LTSC, to use winget you first have to install 2 packages via power shell. First: VCLibs.x64.14.00.Desktop.appx Then: DesktopAppInstaller_********.msixbundle
Does this version of Windows 11 feel as snappy as normal Windows 10? And do the fans randomly flare up like on my installation of normal Windows 11?
Maybe it’s all in my head, but I tried it a while back and it felt less snappy than clean windows 10 but more snappy than stock windows 11. It also retains a lot of the annoyances of stock windows 11.
Unfortunately I can’t use it because I have a WMR VR headset and it’s unsupported on the IoT and LTSC.
There’s a YouTube channel called memories tech tips and he’s developing a script that you can add to your ISO that will have a similar effect to the LTSC. That in combination with Chris Titus techs ultimate windows utility after first boot makes setting things up much easier.
This sounds nice, thanks for that information.
How do you know stuff is particularly "unsupported" on a same os but different build? Other then errors of course?
In my head it is the same os just different blend so wonder why it wouldnt work. Reckon maybe some missing system components. Though can copy those over?
Anyway was curious if you knew! Thanks
It’s basically just Microsoft being shit heads on their development of the Windows Mixed reality drivers that creates that specific edge case. Hopefully the open source monado drivers will be a good replacement eventually. Most everything else should work fine.
I only know because I had windows 10 LTSC when I bought my headset and tried to get it working and found reddit threads with the same issue. I tested the windows 11 IoT when it came out because I hoped it would support my headset then I found out they are dropping support next year.
There needs to be a class action lawsuit about this to either open-source the drivers or to refund all those who purchased WMR devices.
At this point, I’m assuming you don’t like yourself very much.
Well, I would like to switch to Linux but my VR headset is holding me back. Linux does have its own annoyances. I would probably still have to virtualize windows because of productivity software I need.
I also use an engineering sample CPU so uhhh… I’ve learned to stop worrying and love the jank.
Fair enough. You can keep your partition and run your VM from there, btw.
It feels snappy enough to me. I dunno about fans though, as I set mine in UEFI/BIOS.
Nah, when my Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC (non-IoT) runs out in 2027 it will be the last Windows version I ever use.
Ok.
Perhaps even Cool.
No Candy Crush? Non-starter.
Yeah what do you do on a computer without Candy Crush. Could it even connect to the Internet?
I thought Candy Crush was a dependency for File Explorer, TIL
Sounds like Linux but worse. Got my dad on Mint and all he ever uses is a browser and mail program (2nd one is optional)
All my mom does is browser and Office365. I tried to get her into LibreOffice and I saw her suffering through it for some time and decided to put her out of her misery by MAS'ing her Office.
Believe it or not my pops is readonably tech savvy. He was an engineer and does industrial control automation, and there are a lot of software suites for that which are firmly Windows only. Hardware license dongles and the whole bit. Our chances of getting that to run in Wine are below zero.
VM with one dedicated usb hub passed thru?
Is that because he can't figure out how to do fuck all in Linux?
Me too
Linux: Cause you're just gonna use an Internet browser anyway.
Just download Steam, it'll do the rest.
When I still had a Windows 11 install, it was running under an Enterprise License. Apparently, Enterprise and Education are the only editions left that allow you to deactivate all those unwanted components via the Group Policy Editor. Also the only editions that allow you to turn off telemetry.
At some point, I managed to get all the stuff I needed running seamlessly on Linux, and I plan on never going back to MS.
I'm still using Windows 10 on my personal work laptop, and I've got to say that what you've described sounds pretty appealing. Windows 10 with most of the crapware removed, and extended support. That sounds like a good deal...
But on the flip side, I think it's a bad idea to get an OS from a piracy site. Maybe it's all genuine and tickety-boo, but being a reputable 3rd party source is a fairly high bar. I certainly wouldn't trust a site I've never heard of to give me a legitimate copy of a better-than-standard version of Windows. Their offer to verify their own files is less than convincing. I think I'd need to be an active part of the scene to be able to trust something like that - because it certainly smells like an easy way to get back-doored.
You install windows as standard (from MS directly), selecting the IoT version during setup. Afaik it's on GH so you can view the scripts, copy/paste if you don't trust the downloaded .ps1, etc.
I ran the OS for a couple months on a system and had no issues. No funky activity reported (no more than usual) with snort, no alerts from sophos. I didn't extensively verify it, but I don't have any suspicions to report.
I agree. I need to trust where the OS (or any software) comes from. I'd rather get a legitimate windows copy and then debloat it and turn off telemetry and other BS myself. Then I know I'm good on both counts. But apparently the IoT LTSC version is legit, not a cracked copy. This is the first I've ever heard of it.
I bought an i7 NUC to use as HTPC some years ago. It has W10 IoT on it. Handles Dolby Atmos like a charm & 4K to a degree (YouTube. Last time i checked, Windows still liked to give 4K media files a purple hue)
Didn't they got rid of the Cortana branding?
Yeah I believe they’re just calling it copilot now
Honestly that was the one positive thing about it for me.
If the LTSC was the actual Windows then they wouldn’t be losing any market share. That shit is crazy nice
Yeah, well. They make most of their money off of advertising revenue and the spyware bullshit. License sales are one and done per user, so there's no recurring revenue there. And probably even less than that because everyone -- individual users at least -- just pirates Windows anyway.
I know I sure as hell do. And I'm not recommending anyone else not do so, either...
I am sure Microsoft will take this to heart and stop the bloat shit and not kill off Windows 10 for good.
What do you have against it? The original was better I grant you that.
It doesn't do anything VLC doesn't do except try to steal your file extensions all the damn time.
VLC is better but a basic media player has been part of Windows for decades now. Any decent OS will come with one. The default on most Linux distros isn’t much better.
I haven't had vlc ork reliably in a while, any video playback was glitchy and out of sync. I use photos to look at videos now, worse features but it has no issues and honestly I just want to play a video file with no effort
Huh, maybe I'll consider replacing my current Win10 install that I never use with this. And maybe I'll see about replacing my SO's install with it as well.
Ouah nice, if I can keep W10 for a few years the time to learn the specificities of Linux (let's be honest for a total newb, there are a lot) with the Deck it's perfect!
This would also allow me to keep using software unable to run on Linux.
Thank you for explaining this, I'll check!
absolutely legendary you are mate
The store is there, its just disabled, there is some command you can run to enable it. I forgot what it was though.