I use my PC mainly for gaming (via Steam). I'm considering switching from CB to LTSB, since I don't use any of the xbox/onedrive/cortana/edge/store/etc (and frankly consider most of that crap bloatware). The one thing I'm worried about is issues for gaming compatibility. Is there anything I should worry about? Will I still be able to use a controller, update directx12, etc? Is there anything that I might need for gaming that I won't be able to install manually? Or is sticking with CB and manually uninstalling all the bloat via Toggle Tweaker/OOSU10/etc a better option?
I think than the best for you it's LTSB, what you call bloatware tends to reinstall it with the updates and Cortana, etc to reactivate, if you only want the pc for games try LTSB and forget all these headaches
LTSB is fine for Gaming, even LTSB N is. But you could debloat your Pro with tools like MSMG Toolkit and remove all the crap from the Windows iso within 5-10 minutes. I'm running such a build and never faced any problem until now. You can even remove the telemetry stuff with it.
LTSB N is the one I'm looking at (I'm using Enterprise right now). Is MSMG Toolkit better than Toggle Tweeker and OOSU10 (or just uninstalling all the preloaded apps with powershell)? Also do you have a link to it?
Since XP, Windows was created as a base and features will added on top for Pro/Enterprise versions (such as App and Bitlocker, etc) That means that Enterprise/LTSB can do everything Home can, but not vice versa. There IS one exception though. LTSB ONLY comes with one app - tech support. So no Store/apps.
I thought about switching to LTSB N but went back to 7 instead. I think 1 (or more) of several things will happen (or, needs to happen at least) before I go back to 10 especially for gaming: Microsoft reverses their stance on updating and allows more user choice especially regarding the ability to refuse updates by picking and choosing what updates to accept (Pro and above) DX12 is shown to be worthwhile enough and is used by a lot of games (though I don't expect this for another year at least) Microsoft backpedals on telemetry and data collection and finally makes opt out do what they say it does; OS no longer communicates with data mining turned off. Realistically I don't expect 1 or 3 but I'm on the "borrowed time" group with #2 (DX12). If anything I'm more likely to switch from 7 to 8.1 at this point if I upgrade to anything, but, I am somewhat hoping that maybe eventually MS gets tired of being questioned and brow beaten in the press and does change their tune (a bit). Again though I'm not holding my breath. They're [Microsoft] not standing against CISA, and that's a bold move to take when your latest and greatest is perceived by many to be a big chunk of spyware. At this point the end does not justify the means for me with 10.
Windows 7 uses telemetry too just for the record so where lies the difference then ! I do not care about telemetry I do care about an updated OS with a good thirt party driver support at the moment just my 2 cents
LTSB does come with DirectX and most games will automatically install or update DirectX too. As it's optimized for even lower powered computers (something corporations tend to have a lot of on the cheap), it is breezing fast for gaming. I found it better for gaming then Home or Pro. I also got a better lossless video rendering using LTSB
No sir; no it doesn't if you don't install those updates (and I have not). You can refuse telemetry and CEIP in 7 & 8 which is something you cannot do in 10.
Yup, this why MS want people to upgrade. Telemetry is literally embedded in 10, whereas it was easy to simply ignore 7/8 updates that added telemetry post-launch. Even with programs that "remove spying", it's debateable if they actually work, since MS made telemetry a developmental goal of 10.
Yeah I've got a couple of them that I installed as xbox360 controllers, and they work for the most part.. I run into problems all the time though (especially with games like Rocket League, super meat boy, etc). It would be nice of Logitech got off their asses and released a stable driver is all I'm saying Interesting! What kind of gains are we talking about here? Higher FPS? Faster load times? Decreased CPU usage?
Testing LTSB I haven't noticed any sort of speed or fps increases. Not sure why people are suggesting this over the normal pro version despite LTSB not having Cortana which is a huge plus but boot time is the same and fps etc is the same from what I can see on my hardware which is Asrock Extreme4 Z97 Core i5 overclocked to 4.7ghz 32gb ram Gigabyte G1 Gaming GTX 970 120gb SSD