LTSC stands for Long Term Servicing Contract so places that need super long support windows. The LTSC is the IOT version of this, for kiosks, etc, as you said.
I would personally recommend installing Windows using and autounatend file to remove what you do not want (like the enterprise has done for a long time) On Wed, Mar 25, 2026 at 7:27 PM David Schwartz via PLUG-discuss < [email protected]> wrote: > I recently bought a Mini-PC on Amazon from KAMRUI that has an AMD Ryzen > CPU etc. It’s a fast, low-energy machine that’s promoted as an “entry-level > gaming machine”. It fits my needs perfectly for why I got it. > > The ad suspiciously does not mention an OS anywhere. Few of the ads from > KAMRUI do now. I wonder why? > > When I got it and started it up, I noticed it begin to run the > installation process for Win 11, which kind of surprized me. I went ahead > and installed it, doing the dance that lets you proceed without having to > login to an MS account. > > I didn’t care, because my plan was to install Windows LTSC IOT (Win 10 > version), which I did, and am very happy with. > > I watched a bunch of videos on YT about Windows LTSC, and some of them > point to sites where you can DL links to get installers and patches to tell > the registry to bypass things, as well as a file that works as a license > key. I’m not going to post them here. > > The thing is, this version of Windows is only licensed to companies who > need it, but it runs on most any Intel or ARM machine made thesse days. > > I spent the first 5 years out of college working at Intel on stuff > intended for use with embedded systems, beginning with a real-time embedded > OS, and many years after that building embedded applications for clients. > It’s a different world. The average vehicle has a couple dozen computers in > it, and every one of them is a uniquely designed embedded system. > > Every time I mention this to anybody, I get a lot of flack from people who > don’t understand the difference. Windows LTSC IOT was made for use by > companies that make standalone products and things (eg, kiosks) that need > an embedded OS that has no monitor or kbd attached because there’s nobody > there to watch them. There’s zero bloatware included. In fact, it doesn’t > even come with some basic stuff you’d expect. It’s even leaner than Windows > Server products. > > But if you install it on a desktop, you get a super-lean install of > Windows that will not auto-update EVER unless you explicitly tell lit to. > Those auto-updates are the kiss-of-death to embedded applications! They may > be connected to an internet, but not usually in a way that makes them > vulnerable to outside attacks. The LAN is going to be very local and > typically behind a firewall if they have public connections. > > The Win 10 version’s end-of-life is scheduled for 2035 or so, and they’re > not going to pester you to install Win 11 because that’s not what companies > that build embedded systems will do. The Win 11 version’s EOL is around > 2045. > > If you look at the failures around the DIA underground baggage handling > system, I knew from the start it was going to fail because they were using > the only version of the newly released Win NT platform, which was for > desktops. It could not deal with real-time signaling, it got interrupted by > random background processes, and it was very unpredictable. That baggage > handling system was a perfect example of the need for an embedded OS. The > company that built it was an MS-certified Platinum service that had MS > behind the, feedign them the wrong product for this job. At the end, they > sadly laid the blame on the tiny vendor who provided the DB they used. I > had been using that DB for years, and it’s an excellent product. Win NT was > the primary cause of the failure and nobody who reported on it ever > metioned that it’s totally inappropriate for embedded systems. > > If you’ve ever been through public places with large-screen kiosks and one > or more are showing a Windows BSOD, you’re looking at the problem. Windows > assumes someone is monitoring the computer 24/7/365 and can respond to > unhandled exceptions inside the OS whenver they happen. Imagine if that > happend on an aircraft or inside of a computer running a bank of elevators, > or your microwave. > > It only took MS until around 2015 to actualy build something specific for > embedded designed — Windows LTSC IOT. (There’s a Win LTSC version that’s > NOT for IOT, which is different.) > > I’ve had no problems running it on my little MiniPC and it’s stable as can > be. No auto-updates. No bloatware. Nothing there that it didn’t come with > or that I didn’t install. > > -David Schwartz > > > > > > On Mar 21, 2026, at 10:47 AM, Keith Smith via PLUG-discuss < > [email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > Hi, > > > > This is a very interesting video. It fails to state that M$ was > extremely predatory in the 80's and 90's. > > > > I recently read that Bill Gates spent several billion dollars to > rehabilitate his repetition. > > > > Fast forward and I recently read the Gates' reputation just took a big > hit because of Jeffrey Epstein. It is being reported that Gates' wife left > him, at least in part, because of Jeffrey Epstein. > > > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVv-dSmr6BA > > > > Keith > > > > --------------------------------------------------- > > PLUG-discuss mailing list: [email protected] > > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > > https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list: [email protected] > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > -- A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will prevent you from rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button. Stephen
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