My experience : stay away from LTSC
Because the day your main DAW ask for the LAST win version ... you realize you can't update win LTSC easily.

It is an "in place" update ... and didn't really worked for me.

Some reading :
https://www.reddit.com/r/WindowsLTSC/comments/1d4koqq/upgrading_from_ltsc_2019_to_2021_will_it/

 

W11 Pro with Atlas OS.
The most snappy Windows I've ever had.
Latencymon was also very happy

 

Most of the "optimize", "de-bloat" tools were geared for less hemmed up versions of win10. Like say 21H2 and less. With 22H1 and beyond the security and properties of many of the elements of the system and the GUI especially have been further locked down to prevent these tools from working properly. Most of those tools dont get updated properly to keep up with mickeysoft so you're really on your own to continue and finish up os optimization post install. Your best bet is to install a good super-lite image and then start manual optimization from there. With most super-lite images a lot of the heavy lifting has already been done and it's just a matter of tweaking things, like shit-canning all the updaters, defender, edge, ms store, wallet, work folders, going thru the task-scheduler, services panel, etc, etc...

 

win 11 pro 24h2 no prob here on modern hardware. debloated with revios playbook + win11 debloater

 

Also Revios playbook here, using it since long ago, no problem at all and is lighning fast, win10 22H2 now.

 

A producer friend of mine had problems with Win 11 twice since the year started. I'm using Win 10 Pro and it's alright. I don't think there's major differences when it comes to latency and resource usage. Maybe I'm wrong, I'd love to check a benchmark.

 

PrimoCache is very stable and safe. I have it installed and running since Windows 7 without problems.
You can Pause/Stop it anytime as well and it reloads your cache on reboot if selected.
CPU usage is very low too.

 

Hello

Windows 11 is still an unstable OS and you should wait and see. If you are a PC savvy person, I would recommend the Pro version of the OS. (Because it allows you to change detailed settings about your PC.)

 

i was using modified versions of Windows for quite a few years, honestly I wouldn't exactly recommend them. They are not really that safe (You might be okay on a computer that never connects to the internet... but i still don't quite recommend it), but there is a tool called "WinUtil" that is really helpful for Not only removing a ton of stuff that's unwanted from the OS, But it gives you quick ways to download and install a ton of software that might be typical for a lot of people to use, which Can really make it easy after you have to do a new install, streamlining the process. The apps are categorized and I even found some really good stuff in there I didn't know existed. It also can help you make your own "minified" windows ISO files.

the developer/creator is a well known tech youtuber called Christopher Titus, and he does a lot of videos about Windows & Linux that are extremely informative & helpful.

The LTSC/LTSB versions of Windows are a good place to start, and pro (or If there's one above that) is better unless you don't want the extra control over your PC. There's a great site that hosts a lot of the win ISO's for several versions, untouched. it's called massgrave.

oh yeah, and if it's possible to get something before the version with copilot, i recommend it, but it might not bother you

 

Again disclaimer, haven't test Win11. But I've read a lot about it and I agree.
From what I gather the bested versions overall and especially stability-wise were the ones before these new features.
I call them with affection "AI shit" because they're basically first versions of future Windows "AI" 12 features.

 

About Win10 LTSC, I forgot to mention a very important thing. And this I learned from a fellow user here.

The best LTSC version is the LTSC IoT (internet of things). That's the only one I wanted to recommend earlier in this thread.
Simple reasons: it has official support until 2032 and the latest version is 22H2, like the regular Pro, Home versions.

It's the one I'd recommend if you don't want to mess with scripts. Perhaps a ClasicShell/StartIsBack tool and very few more tweaks.

 

Last edited: Feb 26, 2025

Win11 is a different GUI system than previous versions. Tools that allow for getting rid of the GUI in win10 and previous versions do not work well in 11. Win11 is not very backward compatible with older softwares. As far as latency/resource comparisons go, can't really speak to that. I have no complaints thus far with 21H2 for production use re: latency and resource usage, but then again I have that production os build very optimized and completely off the internet.

Luckily the win os is still able to be reverse engineered by the end user in order to create a safe and efficient build for an internet or production use model. Apple is not an option since there is no way to rid that system of all the junk placed there by the oem. Once the windows os becomes unable to be reverse engineered there won't be a safe, private solution for internet or production use. It will force many of us to simply dig heels in and either use a *NIX of some sort for internet and older optimizable win builds for production use. Personally, it would not impact my situation much since I don't subscribe to the online telemetry exchange, autonomously updating, zero-privacy usage models to begin with.

 

Last edited: Feb 26, 2025

This stuff is all new to me and I have strongly suspected keyboard press and screen copies are happening. Super benefit of being in this group. Thank you.

 

A nice subreddit for all LTSC-related windows editions: https://old.reddit.com/r/WindowsLTSC/

Their pinned guide related to using tools to de-bloat the image yourself as you need: MSMG Toolkit, services.msc, task scheduler and group policy editor.
Also a nice blog post related to process count and how to not be fooled by simple screenshots of task manager: https://zusier.xyz/blog/posts/process-count-doesnt-matter/

And if you do not want to do all the work yourself, others have covered the subject in a nice way: Ghostspectre and AtlasOS are common as it seems. Enjoy your new OS!

 

Last edited: Apr 30, 2025

I'm sure the debloating/sanitizing tools do this, but for the record this is something we all oughta check as MS are sneaky bastards too often:

(command shell as Admin)

Code:

DISM.exe /online /Get-FeatureInfo /FeatureName:Recall

Hopefully you'll get something like this in return (i.e. Recall isn't installed):

Code:

Error: 0x800f080c

Feature name Recall is unknown.
A Windows feature name was not recognized.
Use the /Get-Features option to find the name of the feature in the image and try the command again.

If it somehow is (bastards) then

Code:

DISM.exe /online /Disable-Feature /FeatureName:Recall

 

Latest and greatest from Ghost Spectre. Usually there is a Lite and SuperLite mod build with various updated versions of these, SuperLite is strongly suggested as it does away with Ms Telemetry among many other things.

Alternately, Win10 Pro SuperLite from the same guy.

 

I've used win 10 LTSC iot for about a year now and it's pretty great. There have been instances I needed to install additional stuff to get things working, as it seems it's more slim than other windwos versions. For example, some AI tool need phyton and i couldnt just install it the regular way. Also sometimes I have wondered if certain issues i sometimes have are WIN 10 LTSC IOT related, but since it's the only one I use cause its theoretically the best I still use it

I've installed it lots of times and made lots of simple ps1 or bat scripts to change basic settings cause got tired of doing everyhting manually. Or I should better say that I got My Ai bitch bot to make my scripts, since I have no clue about scripting. I do not like lots of Ai stuff ,but these bots are useful if you want to customise windows more but cant program/script yourself.

 

Honestly, every person will say the one they found worked the best for them and that is fine and correct, for them, as it should be.

Realistically, if all the O/S is going to do, is to function as a DAW, then whatever you choose needs to have as little memory-hungry apps and be as tiny as possible so the majority of your RAM and GPU, caching and usage can be dedicated to the DAW.

 

the laptop i am using has windows 11 home version and it has been causing some issues for me installing some of the r2r apps, especially kontakt. i have a stupid question. if i want to use ghost spectre windows 11 pro, do i first need to purchase an upgrade of my current windows home to windows pro?