In an unexpected post on Windows IoT 10 Enterprise LTSC 2021 and Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2024, I described two special, yet official editions of Windows that have some extraordinary advantages.I could have described them as being “secret”—not so many people are aware of them (I wasn’t!).

In brief, and to recap:

  • Being for IoT, they’re less bloated than “normal” Windows editions with preinstalled features and apps.
  • Being for IoT, the Win11 edition lacks the TPM-related restrictions normally associated with Win11, which means it can be installed on older hardware.
  • Being LTSC, they have extended support time, as follows:
    • Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2024: Oct 10, 2034
    • Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021: Jan 13, 2032

What’s not to like, except that they’re Windows? Oh, there’s a drawback: being Enterprise versions, and very specific at that, they’re not meant for the public. Subsequently, purchasing a license is close to impossible, or very expensive. Fortunately, there are several ways of “illegally” activating them, all available via the Microsoft Activation Scripts (MAS). Why shouldn’t you worry about this limitation:

  • Microsoft couldn’t be bothered to cease and desist or to press criminal charges against the website that provides those activation scripts, so they won’t come after you, in your home! The website massgrave.dev, which seems to be hosted by Cloudflare, even directs to scripts hosted on GitHub.com, which belongs to Microsoft! And Microsoft just couldn’t care less!
  • On the moral side: Look, people want to purchase a license. Officially and at a reasonable price. As long as these editions do exist, and some companies can purchase them, everyone should be able to do the same. If Microsoft doesn’t want people’s money, then people will use them for free.

Also, note that “illegal” activation mechanisms for Microsoft’s products have existed since forever, with very little effort to take them offline, if at all. The last time I used one, it was KMSpico, or maybe KMSAuto, but there also was an AutoKMS (part of Microsoft Toolkit Activator, I guess).

New (and older) kids on the block

But you can do better! The aforementioned Windows editions, with all their advantages, which include a certain degree of lightness, can still be improved in this regard!

Forget about IoT and even LTSC. Some enthusiasts have thought of building customized editions (which are lighter than the official ones), or to provide you with scripts that would clean up the garbage from the regular editions (so you first need to install a normal edition, then to run such scripts).

I’m not a fan of customized Windows editions; what is this, an epidemic of “Windows distros”? And yet, people change, and I was persuaded to look into them by an Italian magazine: Win Magazine n.323 (marzo 2025), issued on Feb. 20, 2025. Special feature: “WINDOWS: 5 VERSIONI SEGRETE” (pages 18 to 27)!

Now, the thing is that there are only 4 “secret” Windows versions, because the 5th one is Haiku OS, which is not Windows and cannot run Windows binaries:

They recommend VirtualBox to try them, and Rufus to write them on USB flash drives. I stick to my stance that Rufus is for idiots; non-retards use Ventoy. All the official Windows ISO files work; if any of the “secret” editions fail on someone’s hardware, only then should Rufus be tried.

The Italian magazine has also used PassMark’s PerformanceTest to compare these editions to the official Win11 24H2. Notwithstanding the recommendation for their readers, the magazine has tested each edition by installing it on bare metal on the same machine as the reference OS, Win11 24H2: a Dell Inspiron 13-5378 with i7-7500U, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD.

There’s one thing I don’t understand so far: Win11 24H2 ran at 1.03 GHz when tested, whereas the “special” editions made the CPU run at speeds between 2.78 and 3.5 GHz. WTF?!

    Let’s show the base reference:

    ❶ Windows X-Lite

    Translated from Italian: This version of Windows, available for both Windows 10 and Windows 11, is designed to offer a minimalist OS. All unnecessary applications and programs have been removed, thus freeing up as many resources as possible to optimize performance. An interesting aspect is that this version can bypass controls related to Secure Boot, TPM, CPU and disk space, making it compatible even with hardware that does not meet official requirements.

    Also from Italian: In alternative versions of Windows, the use of the dark theme is a constant. The Windows X-Lite interface is minimal and extremely responsive. Within the Optional folder are various links that point to the installation of additional services, tools, and scripts to customize and optimize the operating system. This folder may contain optimization scripts, useful for enabling or disabling specific Windows features, additional drivers to ensure compatibility with certain hardware, and optional files to restore features removed in the X-Lite version.

    Results as tested by the magazine: CPU Mark is faster by 4%, the memory access by 10%, the disk access by 5.6%, and the system has fewer active background processes at startup than the standard version of Windows: just 85, compared to 155. However, 3D graphics are slower by 10%, which makes the synthetic PassMark rating lower by 3%. The installed OS took 6.28 GB on disk.

    My comments: I have not tried it yet, but the Optimum editions seem to look decent. Ultimate 11 “Neon” and other special editions look, just like the website, as being designed by retards for retards. Or for gamers. For the tested version, notwithstanding the number of processes reduced by 45%, the performance improvement is marginal or even negative, depending on what’s important to you. And the much higher CPU speed while idle is not explained. Meh.

    ❷ Ghost Spectre

    Translated from Italian: Available for Windows 10/11, Ghost Spectre stands out for its responsiveness to commands. In this version, too, many superfluous elements have been removed, although disk space occupancy is higher than in Windows X-Lite. An interesting aspect is the presence of a built-in “toolbox,” which makes it easy to reinstall some deleted apps or functions.

    Also: Rather minimal interface, with very few apps installed. Prominent among them on the desktop are CPU-Z, which provides system info, CPU load and temperature, and Ghost Toolbox, a “toolbox” crammed with useful applications.

    Results as tested by the magazine: The PassMark rating is lower by 5.4%, the disk access is slower by 2%, and 3D graphics are also slower by 10%, but the memory access is faster by 9.5%. The active processes, 151 vs. 155, don’t suggest much of an improvement. WTF.

    My comments: The website is a complete fuckup! There isn’t even a single word of explanation on what’s what. Membership is most likely required to access more info, as well as for the members-only “early access” builds and tools. To download an actual ISO (in a password-protected archive), one has to make too many clicks. Really, whoever made the infrastructure was an asshole. And the claim that there are also Win10 editions (G-W10) might be unsubstantiated. However, the presence of LTSC editions is a plus, despite everything else being bad juju. Oh, and why install something that’s not a significant improvement over the official versions? I don’t see myself using it, unless tortured.

    ❸ Atlas OS

    Translated from Italian: AtlasOS is not distributed as an ISO file, but in the form of PlayBook, a script designed to eliminate anything that slows down the system. Designed to minimize latency and increase responsiveness, it is a viable option for those who prefer not to format their PC or install a new OS. Although the gain in overall speed is relative, application response times are greatly improved. Two files, Atlas PlayBook and AME Wizard, are required for installation.

    Also: Compared to other “alternative” Windows, AtlasOS has the menu moved completely to the left, like Windows 10. Otherwise, there is little to report: cleanliness reigns here over everything else. To enable, for example, Defender: we click Select options, then Enable Defender and Next. Next, we select Default Windows Mitigations and click Next, then Default Automatic Windows and Next. We leave the sleep modes disabled and click Next. We choose whether to enable Edge, continue with Next, select the browser to install, and finally click Next to start the system optimization.

    • Version used and ISO size: Atlas v0.4.1, 9.3 MB (Atlas Playbook), 10.2 MB (AME Wizard)
    • D/L link: https://short.tips/url/atlas (or from the magazine’s DVD)
    • Current version at the time of this post: the latest is still 0.4.1

    Results as tested by the magazine: Per the magazine’s assessment, AtlasOS is an efficient and responsive system that offers a very pleasant user experience, despite the PassMark score being lower by 18%! CPU Mark: lower by 22.6%. 3D graphics: lower by 9.7%. Memory access: faster by 10.5% (at least something has improved). But the disk access performance is drastically reduced by 40%! Only the decrease in the number of active processes is satisfactory: 109 instead of 155.

    My comments: AtlasOS is an open-source project (GitHub repo), so at least you can check and modify the scripts. Make sure you read the documentation! But what kind of “improvement scripts” are these if they make the system slower?!

    ❹ ReviOS

    Translated from Italian: Distributed as a script, ReviOS allows you to improve Windows performance by removing all unnecessary elements. For best results, it is advisable to start with a clean, up-to-date installation of Windows. In our tests, the performance improvement in synthetic benchmarks was minimal, but there was a marked increase in overall system responsiveness. To install ReviOS, two files are required: ReviOS Playbook and AME Wizard.

    Also: More vibrant than other versions, the ReviOS desktop is free of unwanted applications, thanks to the absence of bloatware and unnecessary preinstalled apps. The system is designed with a focus on privacy, eliminating UWP/AppX Apps, Windows Telemetry Client and Targeted Content Service. It also provides an optimized gaming experience, ensuring low latency and increased stability through improved system resource management. Users also have the ability to customize the system with advanced settings without the limitations imposed by Microsoft.

    • Version used and ISO size: ReviOS PB-24.12, 1.16 MB (Atlas Playbook), 10.2 MB (AME Wizard)
    • D/L link: https://short.tips/url/revi (or from the magazine’s DVD)
    • Current version at the time of this post: Playbook is still at 24.12; AME Wizard is at version 0.75 Beta (18 MB).

    Results as tested by the magazine (they liked it a lot): Thanks to the optimization performed by the programmers, the system feels fast and responsive even after the most common applications are installed. The feeling of promptness of ReviOS is confirmed by the number of active processes, which is among the lowest (97), second only to Windows X-Lite, testifying to the excellent optimization work.

    To the point: CPU Mark practically unchanged, the memory access faster by almost 11%, the disk access faster by more than 10%, the 3D graphics slower by almost 9%, and the PassMark rating lower by 4.6%.

    My comments: The official site says that “Playbook is compatible with Windows 10 versions 21H2 (19044) and 22H2 (19045) (x64 only), and Windows 11 versions 23H2 (22631) and 24H2 (26100) (x64 and ARM64). This covers standard Windows 10, 11 and LTSC. It also works on any Windows edition, meaning you can use your existing Windows license key no matter the edition.” Might be interesting.

    I can’t draw a conclusion

    At some point, when I didn’t know of the summary made by this Italian magazine, I contemplated the scripts that make AtlasOS. Their website claimed improvements in the RAM usage from 2.9 GB to 1.4 GB and the decrease in CPU usage by 2-10% (I don’t care about a higher FPS in games—not with Intel video). But now that I read a set of benchmarks that don’t show any “secret” edition as being better than the official Win11, I’d rather stick to the IoT LTSC editions that I learned about in March! At least Win10 LTSC seemed to be snappy enough (with some extra tinkering to castrate Defender and to decrease the spying).

    To say that I’m disappointed would be an understatement. “Distro-hopping” in Windows is not worth the while.

    Nothing compares to Win7. Or to WinXP SP3, which I have always used with the Win2k/98/95 classic (and gray) look. I wasn’t unhappy with Win98 SE and Win95 OSR 2.5 either. I even liked a lot WfW 3.11, if not Win 3.11 with Trumpet Winsock. Fuck, everything is so shitty nowadays…

    In a future post, I’ll show you how the Linux kernel is even worse than the crapification aka enshittification of Windows by Microsoft!

    I will show you regressions, regressions, regressions that will never, but never get fixed!