preference + control + resources- windows slowly become cellphone- less File Menu- more Icons- main computer use xp86 xp64 7x64- 10x64 11x64 just for trash play on laptop

kmsvl + win7x64 + simplix update + ntlite ~600mb ISO for me- 10 hard for that size usage

 

Microsoft, as any other software company, have taken a bunch of UI design decisions that IMO have made Win 10 and 11 a better match for casual users than for productive people. Their attempt at simplification has ended up in an OS that gets more and more in my way instead of helping me getting my work done faster.
That's my main gripe with Win10+ and it's mainly about UI design.
I was a happy Win 7 user, got a Mac when Win8 happened and now that I'm using both OS every day, although it took me some time to get friends with everything else on MacOS, I have regular WTF moments when switching to Win11.
It feels really messy too compared to MacOS and I would have fired MS's UI designers long ago. Nothing against simplifying tasks but they shouldn't lock out users that know exactly what they're doing and what they want.

 

Microsoft, make Windows great again! Let the OS belong to it's users not your pesky corporation.

 

Next to the first thing I nuke on every win10 build is the "metro" UI - Install Classic shell - win7 aero. The UI transforms before your eyes and looks/works like win7.

 

While we're at tweaking, is there a way to get MacOs style simple and efficient application menus instead of these nasty ribbon style icon bars?

 

Hackintosh. I.E. the running of intel based MacOS on PC hardware.

 

Sounds like somebody should release a simple open source version of what you do there - I'd use it. I know there are some alternatives but none I know of are like that. I know the basic open source Chromium browser doesn't just work, the last time I tried it.

I do use the "Pale Moon" browser (as a portable version so everything is in one folder) which I believe is built on the older Firefox framework. It doesn't work perfectly with every site online but it does for 95%+.

Its a pity how geeks designing sites and things just break compatibility at the drop of a hat for the latest, no matter how much pain it causes.

Occasionally, for sites that really need a Chrome variant to work, I use Opera (again, portable, everything in one folder). It phones home a bit but it can be modded, its just Opera trying to make some ad money or paid to default to a search engine (for which I use Startpage, Yandex or etools.ch - because DDG censors too much).

Right, but there is also the official "Enterprise" version of 10 which MS were forced to do because of bulk buyer business/gov network admins watching all that network traffic and not liking it. So it has no MS Apps, Cortana, MS Store and basically half the job is done. That's why MS didn't want ordinary users on it. There is also a much reduced "Long Term Support Channel - LTSC" update schedule with no "feature" updates etc. Better still MS have recently introduced an "Internet of Things" variant that has a 10 year life of support - basically a version of Windows 10 that is still "alive" until 2029 or so. There's no difference with the IoT designation other than the extended support, and the *licensing*. That is, there is no need for constant KMS trial renewal type activation, there is the permanent "DLA" which to me is like or better than the old Daz for 7.

So there's a lot less to do with that one, I just use the recently updated "blackbird" program to do most of that for me in seconds. This version of 10 needs also the "I" option (and "J" if you want full network/print) run afterward. In theory at least, it is instantly reversible to standard with a backup file - though I'd prefer to reinstall probably. It should be run again if any updates are allowed.

 

Last edited by a moderator: May 10, 2023

The problem with those ENT/LTSC versions is that they were designed to be used in a corporate network domain model. I.e. they are SERVER os's designed to be placed onto datacenter machines where the codebase they run is static and they serve a ROLE in a domain structure like PDC, BDC, certificate servers, database servers, active directory catalogs, etc, etc... Much of the codebase for these systems doesn't even include the basis for audio and video playback and recording. They were designed for sitting on server hardware in a datacenter. The fact that they have all the stuff we know as junk/bloatware removed has been taken even further due to the fact that servers do not need audio or video subsystems (i.e. DX, dual monitors, HD system audio, etc...) included in the codebase. I know this because way back when I tried to run one of these systems on workstation hardware as a platform for a media production box. It was a nightmare. A lot of basic in built stuff we take for granted on workstation OS platforms just wasn't there with these server based OS's. It's WAAAAY easier and quicker to build out quality media production platforms with real pre-optimized win10/11 ISO's like GhostSpectre or TIny PC. All the media platform building blox are already there with 95% of the garbage removed. KMS_VL auto is completely transparent - once activated you never even remember its there... Activation good until you rebuild the OS or the hardware blows up whichever comes first.

As far as win7 goes, get outpost pro 9.1 setup correctly, Firefox (8x) frozen, Chrome (72) frozen, Spybot and Spyware blaster for patching holes, and it's all good. Running on older dell hardware with intel ME turned OFF at the BIOS level and you got a nice decent little surfing platform. Outpost FW is perfectly (even more) capable of securing that system from prying eyes, regardless of how good a hacker they are...

 

Last edited: May 19, 2023

Yes, with Classic Shell and a few other tweaks, Win 10 can feel as professional as Win 7. You just have to manually undo all the "improvements" MS have added.

 

I'm not sure what version you tried in the past Saccamano, but the current Enterprise LTSC is definitely not a version of the Windows Server OS and every audio/video feature works (I install it for home users all the time).

No doubt for an offline cut back audio system what you say is right. But see the attached image for what resources are being used after simply applying Blackbird plus trimming back services and disabling a handful of drivers: I'm now on 1.2 GB of RAM use, 58-63 processes and below 1% CPU use at idle.

Okay that 1.2Gb is worse than the <800MB I could get for 7, but for 10 it doesn't get a lot better even with major crippling. This is a fully functioning (undesirables like search, Edge and updates disabled), networked and online system. There is no unwanted outgoing network traffic I've seen.

I can run Cubase 12 plus various plugins perfectly. Standard audio and DirectX graphics are all included. See the other image for the kind of latency I am getting - one brief sub 150us peak max after 5 mins with about 23us normal,

What's more it can be updated until 2029 - if wanted. So for example the latest Cubase/Nuendo 12 needs 21H2 update. In future, software may need something else. Maybe - as it is formally supported - it will be possible to download that update and then turn off Windows updates again without reinstalling the whole system.

For offline audio systems, the hacked/customised versions will probably use less resources, as you say. All I'm saying is, for most people "10 Enterprise LTSC IoT" is as good as it gets for a normal but optimized system with current software.

 

Just because I chant "win7, win7" while I masturbate doesn't make me obsessed. It just gets me across the finish line for some reason.

 

you caught me so off guard with that one ...you a fool

 

Simply because, I refuse to use an OS with more inches than me. It makes me feel insecure. If there were a Windows 7.5, I would have stopped there.

 

My music PC is Win 7 and is permanently offline, for everything else I have 2 other PC's and a laptop.

 

To get back to the initial question - dangerous half-knowledge bundled with no idea and rumors in forums like these
There is no reasonable reason.

 

@Blowfly Surfing on the internet during music production you call comfort? you need to have a lot of knowledge to run a system like Windows 7 on modern hardware today, and enthusiasts like me just do that because I can.
P.S. for surfing the net I have 2 separate computers running Linux on the fourth PC I have Windows 10 and games, but I hardly use it

 

coz its the best OS. Simple as that

 

Of course I call it comfort, if I am able to search any information (e.g. a how-to for an audio app) during music production. You need four machines for what I can do on one - what a waste of resources, maintenance and energy. Sure I have a laptop and two smaller PC's I could use for internet research and other stuff but there is no reason to run 2-3 machines in parallel when I can do the whole thing with one.
I am working for more than 30 years in IT support, believe me I would have the knowledge to run new stuff on Win7 but for what? Only because it's technically possible? No thanks, makes no sense, waste of time. Today we are in the comfortable situation that an actual PC is able to run all this stuff on one machine, so we should be happy to do this.
Sure, I also don't like all this data grabbing without my consent by firms like Google, FB, Apple, MS etc. I am using adblockers wherever possible, fake accounts, almost no social media (whatsApp more or less the only one, Google and YT with fake accounts) but if you really want stop this, disconnect completely from Internet. This means first of all no smartphone, ok? If you have disposed your smartphone we can talk about all. And second no use of Internet and foremost no browsers on laptop, PC or wherever, no more download stuff from audioz, no research in Google, YT etc, no social media etc etc. Practically disconnect from digital world.
As I am quite sure you don't live like this, then why all these restrictions on the music PC while you continue as before on all other devices?

 

? The question is 'why' and not 'why not'.