I'm looking to replace my daily driver of Win 7 ESU (since that party's over.) I don't expect to tick every box below, but these are some of the criteria: In general, a stripped-down version of Win 10, with a reasonably low resource footprint. The option to disable or uninstall various stock MS components (along with the usual spyware/telemetry bloat, etc.) Key example: Windows Defender. The option to exclusively apply security updates, and skip non-security updates. The option to also selectively apply non-security/"feature" updates, preferably without having to do a clean reinstall. Full compatibility/support for WSL. That's led me to look at Enterprise, Enterprise LTSC, IoT Enterprise, Education, and Pro. (I'm also seriously considering Linux, but let's not debate it here.) Enterprise LTSC is attractive, but it sounds like a clean install is advised/required when upgrading to future LTSC versions, and it may be overly minimalist for my needs anyway. So maybe regular Enterprise is the way to go? Thanks in advance for any help narrowing this down. I'd also welcome hearing the reasons for your suggestions.
Education.. sound good I will go with pro education or iot ltsc for long updates period Use bb tool / msmg tool / others To remove as much things you like You can also use some 'online' tools - To modify system for the better Sophia script for example https://forums.mydigitallife.net/th...ws-10-windows-11-5-15-1-6-3-1-x64-2023.81675/
No need to clean install LTSB or LTSC, nor to upgrade from an LTS* version to another. Perhaps LTS* are not stripped down windows, Pro/Ent/Home are Bloated versions of it.
Thanks for bringing this tool to my attention; I'm definitely interested in what it can accomplish, as I like a lean OS, so I also commend you for your work on it. However, you mention in that thread that the tool is not advised if the use case includes MS Office. And since I'm in that category, it appears the tool won't work for me. (Unless it's possible to strip down Win 10 then add back the Office-related dependencies? But that's a question better explored in your thread.)
Just use Classic Shell to get rid of the useless W10 start menu. (Perhaps is wort to use it even on Vista/W7) The taskbar can be replaced by "actual multiple monitors", or other programs like retrobar.
I have just tested Classic Shell/Open Shell and StartIsBack. Classic Shell is more customizable but it seems to be less integrated (it looks like just overlay application). StartIsBack totally reimplements Start and Task Bar and it looks exactly like Start in previous Windows versions (exactly same icons and same style), but it is not free.
You need to use a sane theme, not the default one. Personally I like "midnight" (which looks modern w/o looking idiotic), but win7 or win8 skins are nice as well. Startisback is not bad at all, but I prefer CS over it for a number of reasons that become apparent after a month or two of use of both of them. Perhaps the cousin of StartIsBack meant for W11 is really a life saver and wins hands down over the competition
So I will stick with OpenShell as ClassicShell is abandonware You are wright, OpenShell has much more customizations possible than StartIsBack. Anyway, calendar, network connections list are still implemented as laggy UWP applications. And they cannot be reverted back to their Win32 counterparts in latests Win10 builds. Sadly, but we have to live with it. At least balloon notifications can still be classic style
I couldn't care less of the status of Abandonware. It works, I use it. And given I have yet to spot a single improvement in OpenShell I keep using the original, but for sure the lacks of improvements should mean also lack of regression. Do you mean "Actual multiple monitors" or what?
I simply linked the first random site I have found on google I was not aware that explorer patcher can do that for Win10. Thx So it seems that nearly everything from classic Windows 7 look and behavior could be restored to Windows 10. Only Settings app remains still UWP but it is irrelevant.
Whereas Open Shell is good and reliable, I can't say the same about Explorer Patcher. It didn't worked for me, it crashed entire Explorer until next reboot and I had issues with removing it from my system. I do not recommend it to anybody. It contains dirty hacks and it is far from solid/stable solution.
Well, I use Classic Shell Since the day I tried Vista, after 15 years I expect it's stable Never had problem as well on W10 (any supported version), although happens that it doesn't work in the very latest W11 Insider Preview (which is not officially supported anyway). Likely you're facing problems because your installation is already hacked in ways that EP doesn't espect
Ok, just tested Explorer Patcher with my Slimdown v1.22 and it works reliably. Tested with Polish and English versions, with and without cumulative updates included. No issues in any case on VirtualBox and classic clock/calendar works as expected. On the other hand, on ghacks.net, they do not recommend Explorer Patcher. So I have no opinion about this software. PS. At least Open Shell is 100% solid because it is just overlay (no hacks), so it cannot crash anything.
On the other hand I prefer to hear what a experienced and trusted person say over the opinion of a random kid on a random website.