New PC build -- which version of Windows 11? LTSC, IoT, ?? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 4 days ago by Nyarlathotep@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com

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I'll soon be assembling a new PC and I need to figure out which version of Win 11 to use. I've not been able to find a good discussion of using IoT or LTSC for a "daily driver" gaming and productivity PC.

I'll want to make use of a lot of Windows features like virtualization, the ability to run Android apps, and the Linux subsystem. I don't need all the new feature updates immediately, but I also don't want to be running an antique OS... Just a debloated one.

If you've navigated these waters I would love to hear about your experience.

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[-] Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 day ago

I just install Windows 11 Pro N, it comes with much less bloat than the normal Pro version. Then I run the Ameliorated playbook to get rid of most of the spyware and all the other junk. You can also run a script from privacy.sexy for good measure, but AME should handle most of it.
Just make sure to install the Windows Media Feature Pack from the "Optional features" dialog in the settings before running AME, because it might not be possible afterwards.

[-] Nyarlathotep@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 day ago

New stuff to me, thank you!

[-] 9acca9@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 day ago

this can break windows in anyway that affects games?? i just use Windows to play games (cracked games of course) Thanks

[-] kbal@fedia.io 63 points 4 days ago

I also don't want to be running an antique OS... Just a debloated one.

This is not a Windows forum, so I feel justified in pointing out that in that case you should probably avoid Microsoft products entirely.

[-] DebatableRaccoon@lemmy.ca 13 points 4 days ago

This isn't a one-size-fits-all solution though. OP has asked specifically for information regarding Windows and even specifically mentions Linux in the post so it's fair to say they're aware of it and choose to stay on Windows.

[-] Nyarlathotep@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 3 days ago

Correct. I know plenty about Linux and other OSes, but for this system, I'm choosing to use Windows anyway.

[-] krolden@lemmy.ml 38 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Linux

Ive been enjoying https://universal-blue.org/ lately.

If you go windows you will have to use a version with the windows store to make it worth using.

https://massgrave.dev/

[-] land@lemmy.ml 19 points 4 days ago

+1 I went from windows 11 >>> Bazzite OS. Never looked back.

[-] 9acca9@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 day ago

Hi. You can play games from FitGirl in Bazzite OS? They run well or it is better Windows here? Thanks.

ps. im a linux user (i just use linux like... i dont know maybe 15 years) but this months i buy a new pc with good hardware (the best in my life so far) and download windows to.... play some games... sadly because, as i say, i almost always use linux.

[-] land@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 day ago

So far, I haven’t tried any games from FitGirl. However, most Windows games work perfectly if you set up Proton and Wine correctly. There are a few YouTube tutorials specifically designed for Bazzite.

[-] 9acca9@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 day ago

oh i see. This days im playing Elden Ring from fit girl, so i will wait until finish this game to delete the fucking windows and try hacked games in Linux. Thanks!

(i will be probably a lot of time playing....... this game is amazing but time cosuming, it is too good)

[-] jlow@beehaw.org 14 points 4 days ago

+1 for Bazzite 💖

[-] unknown@sh.itjust.works 4 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

+1 bazzite as well. It comes with waydroid for android apps, its Linux (so WSL covered), it does have a gaming focus, it has various Virtualization tools (toolbox, box-buddy) but you can get other options depending on what you actually want.

Don't like it you can rebase to one of the other ostree based images from uBlue or fedora with about one command and a reboot.

[-] DebatableRaccoon@lemmy.ca 5 points 4 days ago

MS Store can be installed on LTSC quite easily so it's very possible to still have the bloat-free version.

[-] ertai@programming.dev 8 points 3 days ago

Wants to run a 'debloated OS' and asking about Windows 11 installation advice. Wut?? Litteraly no reason to be running Windows nowadays. You can game on GNU/Linux just fine and if you really need something Windows specific you can always run it through Wine (with Bottles for instance) or in a Windows VM (if you have a gaming PC then you 100% have a powerfull enough computer for virtualisation).

[-] zaknenou@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

adobe users need windows, it is the obvious route. A debloated version of Windows is better than Unix-like system for that. If one wants to learn more about software and computer science, or wants more customization than Linux and BSD are miles better. also running a VM of Linux inside Windows is arguably a better idea than running VM of Windows in Linux.

It's like asking between Firefox and Chrome, I use Firefox but Chrome is still faster and more likely to run a site than firefox

[-] Nyarlathotep@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 3 days ago

I should have known I'd get my ass beat for asking a question on the internet, right? Haha.

[-] zaknenou@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 days ago

check my post here: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/5611021

I got similar reaction but also some good suggestion, and I also recommended some things

[-] Nyarlathotep@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 days ago

Good stuff, thanks.

[-] Codilingus@sh.itjust.works 20 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC is hands down the best! A nearly naked fresh Windows install. Just Defender and Edge. And even then, a lot of the performance impacting Defender options are unavailable due to the W11 version.

It's still my go to for gaming. Once it's all set up, it just stays out of the way, and runs as lean as modern Windows can.

I highly, highly recommend adding StartAllBack on top of it. Makes the bottom toolbar much, much better.

I always use a single copy/paste Winget command to install nearly everything in one go, without needing any interaction for each install. Also allows updating installed programs with a single command.

Massgrave.dev for ISO's and activation.

Edit: For some features, you have to be comfortable using Powershell as admin. I myself have to Powershell install 2 AppX packages before I can use Winget. If you go with this version feel free to message me for help.

[-] Nyarlathotep@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 3 days ago

Thank you kindly for the confirmation. I'll check out StartAllBack too.

[-] Garry@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 4 days ago

If you guys don’t want to use command lines, get uniget ui, it’s a really nice interface for winget

[-] prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago

I use windows 11 ltsc for gaming, massgrave scripts to activate.

I literally only use it for gaming, so I have success there.

For everything else I use my MBP

[-] pastermil@sh.itjust.works 22 points 4 days ago

Linux Mint, of course!

[-] DebatableRaccoon@lemmy.ca 11 points 4 days ago

That's not what was asked.

[-] thisismyname@lemm.ee 3 points 3 days ago

And yet, it's still the right answer

[-] gazter@aussie.zone 3 points 3 days ago

Mint is not a version of windows.

[-] DebatableRaccoon@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 days ago

For some.

[-] umbrella@lemmy.ml 15 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

most debian based distros are good...

[-] DebatableRaccoon@lemmy.ca 10 points 4 days ago

LTSC is extremely feasible for gaming and productivity. As Codilingus already said, you can get the ISO and activation from MASSGRAVE's site.

Depending on your requirements, you'll probably quickly figure out you need MS Store for one thing or another (the inconvenience of having pretty much everything removed) so you'll need a tool like this to install the store and, you can use Chris Titus' Wintool to turn off the spyware. It also has a program downloader built in with a long list of useful software to help speed up your initial setup process.

[-] Nyarlathotep@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 3 days ago

I had not considered that LTSC would eliminate the store, which is definitely useful at times. Thanks for that link!

[-] Clusterfck@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 3 days ago

Bookmarked this for myself later. THANK YOU!

Nice to see someone not just shitting on Windows.

Nobody WANTS to use Windows, but I also don't want to fiddle with 17 different options and 12 builds of Wine to trick my one program I need to run on Linux.

[-] Nyarlathotep@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 3 days ago

That's a bingo.

[-] DebatableRaccoon@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 days ago

Glad I could help.

I have to agree, I can't say I like or want to use Windows but my experiences of random, unexplainable glitches, numerous hours of forum spelunking and the ever-present arrogant smarminess of a sizeable portion of the Linux userbase tell me which flavor of pain I prefer.

[-] Clusterfck@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 3 days ago

It's the reason I dual boot, really. I periodically check to see if the programs I do want to use that work best on Windows work any better on Linux and it definitely gets better every time I check, but it's just not there 100 percent yet.

And blaming users for no reason than Microsoft is a terrible corporation and how dare anyone use it is an awful tactic to get people to switch.

I believe the Steam Deck has done more for running Windows programs on Linux than any other singular project (in terms of mainstream adoption, obviously Wine/Proton is the reason that even works) and they accomplished it by working WITH developers stuck on developing for Windows. Not by just telling those devs how awful they are and if they're looking for a half measure they can take to switch to Linux, they're on the wrong game store or whatever other response they've given.

[-] liliumstar@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 3 days ago

Previously I ran Win 10 IoT LTSC, with a bunch of scripts from https://privacy.sexy/

I believe most things will work about the same in Win 11. Be sure not to disable anything you might actually need as it can be hard to diagnose.

[-] cygnus@lemmy.ca 9 points 4 days ago

I use CachyOS on my gaming rig and it has been outstanding. The only ting that doesn't work is the EA app.

[-] 9acca9@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 day ago

CachyOS

Games from fit girl works??? thanks

[-] cygnus@lemmy.ca 2 points 19 hours ago

I don't know about fitgirl specifically, I don't actually pirate a lot of games.

[-] Neptr 6 points 4 days ago

Check out Maxima as a replacement for the EA app.

[-] cygnus@lemmy.ca 3 points 4 days ago

Oh nice, I'll give this a shot! I tried installing the EA app through Lutris — it worked, but I can't install any games.

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[-] PrivateNoob@sopuli.xyz 9 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I don't have any experience with win 11, but all I can tell you is that my dual booted win 10 iot ltsc 2021 edition just werks for me, same as any other windows, although I only use it for some VR games currently or some software that doesn't support Linux.

[-] stevedice@sh.itjust.works 5 points 4 days ago

I wouldn't bother with LTSC. Just install Enterprise/Education and disable feature updates.

[-] Rogue@feddit.uk 2 points 3 days ago

To run virtualization and and WSL in a debloated manner you may as well just dual boot Linux and Windows. It'll remove so much headache that WSL creates.

Dual booting is well documented and you get the best of both worlds. If you later find it's not for you then you just erase the Linux partitions and stick with windows

[-] fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 4 days ago

I’ll want to make use of a lot of Windows features like virtualization, the ability to run Android apps, and the Linux subsystem.

Just stick with regular windows 11. Windows updates don't come out that often, and feature updates can be ignored for 6+ months.

[-] DebatableRaccoon@lemmy.ca 1 points 4 days ago

There's a lot of bloat in the commercial versions of Windows, both 10 and 11. It's easy to install the MS store on LTSC and for those who don't need/want the features, the bloat is entirely pointless.

[-] fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 3 days ago

And there's a ton of tools to remove the bloat from regular windows. Honestly the biggest problem with those is they tend to go hog wild and remove too many things so you have to be careful with them and not just blindly click "remove everything possible".

The major H2 updates do legitimately add a lot of features that people would actually want, that LTSC and IoT don't get. If you're mostly playing older games that's not a problem. But if you're trying to play games that just recently came out it can be. Windows 10 stopping at 22H2 has kinda put a pause on that, but I'm sure once it goes EOL Microsoft games will resume the "march of progress" and start requiring new features.

[-] Nyarlathotep@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 3 days ago

Honestly the biggest problem with those is they tend to go hog wild and remove too many things so you have to be careful with them and not just blindly click “remove everything possible”.

Facts. They are useful tools, but even though I thought I was being careful I wiped out some useful features like URL autocomplete when I experimented with the Titus tool.

[-] DebatableRaccoon@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 days ago

We'll see. Game development still generally has a lot of advancements it has yet to leverage so I'm comfortable with the choice I've made. I know about the tools to gut regular Windows but I assessed it would take me more effort to weed through than start with bare bones and add what little I wanted in. I've also tended to find every feature and minor update has inevitably messed with an object that is supposed to belong to me so I'm all aboard for not having to deal with that as often thanks to the long-term strategy of LTSC.