So cool! Master compressed Windows 11 to 100MB!

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/osi3bNYkRUNxnTjgpNA10g

Who still remembers how big Windows 95 was, which established Microsoft's dominance in the desktop market? Answer: Only 30MB. Now, according to Microsoft's official requirements, users need to ensure that there is at least 64GB of storage space in the device before installing Windows 11.

To a certain extent, the high memory footprint of the system means that the various functions provided by Windows 11 will be more powerful and comprehensive. But in fact, many functions are not necessary for users: they will occupy a lot of memory, make the system bloated, and thus affect the running speed of the device.

Based on this, foreign developer NTDEV has been challenging Microsoft's requirements in recent years and constantly pushing the limits - after successfully shrinking Windows 11 to 8GB and then 3.3GB, he recently drastically reduced it to 100MB!

"Have you ever been curious about how small Windows can become? If so, you've come to the right place! This Windows image is less than 100MB in size and has only text and no graphics, just like MinWin in the Windows 7 era ”

Reduced from 64GB to 8GB to 3.3GB

Generally speaking, although Microsoft requires 64GB of memory to be reserved for Windows 11, its installation files are usually between 25-30GB, most of which are default programs and tools. Therefore, the only way to reduce the memory occupied is Removing certain components has always been NTDEV's method of compressing Windows systems.

Last February, NTDEV announced an early version of Tiny11 on Tiny11 is a streamlined version of Microsoft's Windows 11 operating system that reduces the disk space of the Windows 11 installer from 20+GB to about 8GB, and can "run brilliantly" on systems with only 2GB of memory.

As mentioned above, reducing the system footprint will inevitably mean the deletion of certain components, but NTDEV explained that Tiny11 still retains the basic core components of Windows 11, such as the operating system itself and Microsoft Edge; it also retains most security components , so key functions will not be significantly affected. As for what Tiny11 deletes, it is "drivers that your computer will never use, telemetry data that slows down applications, and other parts of Windows 11."

After removing most of the default applications, services and functions that are rarely used, Tiny11 also supports various computer versions and can even run on Mac and Raspberry Pi that are not supported by Windows 11 itself. However, after all, it is a greatly reduced system version. NTDEV proposed that there are some issues that users need to be clear about before installing the Tiny11 system:

1.Tiny11 itself does not have .NET, driver and security updates, but users can still install it through Windows Up date.

2. Some people may worry that the modified Windows version will bring security risks, but NTDEV guarantees that no external content has been added to it, and users can check it themselves.

3. The main reason for the small size of Tiny11 is that the Windows Component Store (WinSxS) has been removed, so Tiny11 cannot install new features or languages.

4. The core of Tiny11 is to inject new life into old computers, so NTDEV does not encourage the installation of Tiny11 on computers that support Windows 11 by default. “This does not mean that I don’t trust my product, but it does do more harm than good in comparison. profit".

5.Tiny11 should not be considered a "Windows without telemetry/spyware" image, but rather an image designed for computers that do not support the standard version of Windows 11.

This early version of Tiny11 was impressive in shrinking Windows 11 to the 8GB mark, but after eight months of continuous testing, NTDEV found that it can be reduced further while ensuring that Windows 11 is usable: first test of Tiny11 core version, compressed in a 2GB ISO, the installation file is only 3.3GB.

NTDEV revealed that the key to minimizing the space occupied by Windows 11 is to use LZX disk compression/decompression technology and instantly decompress system files as needed to reduce the storage space occupied. However, this version of Tiny11 core has been severely cut, and many functions have been affected, including Microsoft Edge, Recovery Agent, Windows Defender and Windows Update.

Therefore, NTDEV also stated that Tiny11 core is just a "quick test platform". Many security functions have been modified and are not suitable for installation on users' important devices. People who want to try it for themselves need to consider carefully.

What does Windows 11 look like compressed to 100MB?

Having said this, I believe many people are confused: It is so difficult to reduce Windows 11 to 3.3GB. Isn’t the 100MB mentioned at the beginning a fantasy? However, NTDEV really did it: he stripped Windows 11 down to text-only mode and scaled it back down a notch.

Specifically, this text-only Windows 11 does not have a graphical user interface, that is, the software does not have any windows, icons and related operations. But without any windows, is this really Windows? All normal programs and games don't work properly, after all they all require a graphical user interface to run?

But judging from NTDEV's sharing, this is actually Windows - or in other words, this is the main body of code hidden under all visual content when you use Windows. Of course, because it is in plain text mode, many of its functions are reduced compared to the regular Windows 11 (or Tiny 11) graphical user interface, but even so, it can still run as a functioning operating system, and even Multitasking is possible.

However, despite deleting the graphical user interface and many functions, this 100MB text-only Windows 11 still runs very slowly. For example, it takes more than 10 seconds to load the following "MinWin is Back" image.

Therefore, from a practical point of view, this "text-only" system is not suitable for promotion. NTDEV has not made this version public for public use, but only made a demonstration. Its more significance may be to further optimize Windows 11 provides some ideas and information to help developers understand the working principle of the operating system and ensure how to appropriately "downsize" while the system is running normally.

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