Why you should NEVER use "Gaming ISOs"

[@charliesretrocomputing]

Solution: don't use gaming ISOs, use real Windows 11 or make your own debloated ISO with NTLite, MicroWin, etc

[@-..._-.]

use linux 👽

[@iamwitchergeraltofrivia9670]

Windows Security is trash fucking Tracking

[@prywatne4733]

Solution: don't use Windows 11 (it's very bloated and laggy), don't debloat it, just install Pop!_OS Thanks to Valve, you can play almost all video games on Linux now. The only ones you can't are the ones with invasive kernel-level anticheat like valorant, I think that's a good thing though

[@Skradgee]

O&O ShutUp too… I think I first heard about that here from this channel.

[@woodcrafte_r]

Lemme guess. You breathe linux. You eat food made by linux. You sleep linuz​@@prywatne4733

[@that_is_not_me]

>remove Microsoft bloat >proceed to bundle your own bloat

[@CrackThrough]

bUt At LeAsT iT's NoT cOrPoRaTe Ai SpYwArE my guy you cluelessly installed 13 redline stealer apps, 8 etherium miners, 5 keyloggers, and 2 "definitely real antivirus"es that requires disabling microsoft defender which also happens to work as a privileged backdoor (nobody said anything but i suddenly wanted to crack jokes, sorry if it's terrible😭)

[@griffin1366]

As somebody from the tweaking community... I've never used FoxOS or GhostSpectre and it's really unprofessional to leave stuff like that on the system. Most just have either a folder with some optional tweaks (not everyone agrees with everything, or wants to test things) or a settings program (ie ReviOS). I always thought of FoxOS as being shady as. I would never trust an anime avatar.

[@griffin1366]

@yvonetubla7682 That is why it's called an "online community".

[@griffin1366]

@yvonetubla7682 Elaborate then. What is it?

[@solidkeys]

​@yvonetubla7682it is

[@DoomsayerStudios]

I'm glad this is about bootleg Windows installations and not about the PS2, PSP and GameCube games I download

[@buttbutt4886]

I mean, game Roms do not have malware because they are direct dumps

[@ramenaddict1676]

oh thank god im not alone

[@d9zirable]

Those are just "Game" isos

[@arsh6212]

Lol that's the first thing that came to my mind when I read the title too

[@YeetusNeebus]

Same

[@pattyguy]

Its unfortunate how most of bootleg ISOs end up being windows with extra bloat or malware

[@TechnoMinded-qp5in]

Enough of the complaining Windows N Edition exists for a reason there for your argument is invalid because you REFUSE to use Windows N Edition.

[@_hard_shutdown7237]

@@TechnoMinded-qp5in bro what?

[@Qimchiy]

I think you've been looking at the wrong places for ISOs. At most it's malware at least it's debloated. You'd have to try slightly more to get Windows more bloated than stock.

[@NinjaQuick]

It isn't. Just have actual network security. Also don't use Windows.

[@ArthursHD]

That is why I don't use MediCat but I install Ventoy and build WindowsPE with PhoenixPE :)

[@rkidy]

Debloating your OS is like removing junk from your house. Removing your anti-malware software is like removing the walls and roof of your house. Edit: the main point of the House analogy is that you do not have full control over malware getting onto your computer. A new vulnerability may be found, a worm may enter your network. These are not things you can prevent with “not downloading sketchy files”. To use the house analogy, it’s like removing your front door and saying “it’ll be fine unless you bring a criminal into your house on purpose.” As if a criminal cannot now just walk in on their own.

[@BowInf]

no lmao if you have common sense then you wont download random shit from the internet and not get ratted at all

[@rkidy]

@@BowInf tbh I almost responded as if u were serious but I’m 99% sure ur a troll. If not you should watch the video again.

[@wattieiscute]

Just saying "common sense waa waa don't download" is not correct, there are so many attack vectors without defender, a virus can come from anything​@@BowInf

[@恐懼]

weird, i have my defender deactivated since 2021 and never had any issues regarding any personal information etc, don't talk stupid nonesense which is obvs not true bruh🤦🏽‍♂️​@@wattieiscute

[@JasperFoxo]

@@BowInf and whos perfect?

[@oussama7132]

UACs being off increases performance and efficiency... Of the viruses

[@xpower7125]

kids don't disable UAC

[@Sagrath696]

LAMAO

[@andreobarros]

During my uni days I got a scholarship as a dev, at one of its departments. Previous student would complain a lot about the main dev PC being super slow. First day on the "job" (first "job" ever). I look at the PC specs: core i5 8GB ram. Like, good stuff for the time. I mean, even today this tanks pretty much any normal use. After using a bit, I notice chrome just does not work, everything is kinda laggy. Firefox barely works, and antivirus is looking weird. I notice UAC was off. (oh no) Task manager had a lot of processes I couldn't recognize; Antivirus wasn't just weird, it couldn't start at all; Google chrome didn't work because... it was *fake*; Well.. I then download Malwarebytes, and after a relatively long scan... +6000 infections. Shit you not, my entire first week there was just, cleaning the trash. Moral of the story, just fkin enable UAC .

[@KopperNeoman]

@@andreobarros If you have a SPECIFIC USE CASE that "requires" the disabling of UAC and you can't figure out how to whitelist that specific executable, you have no business ever tampering with UAC.

[@KyanoAng3l0_Mtvtks]

I was one of the ppl who embraced UAC back in Vista. Got less malware removal requests from fam and friends since they "upgraded" to Vista+, heh. That and telling them not to click yes/confirm on every prompt that pop up likely also helped.

[@onerlgmbf2-zn7hy]

disabling firewall is crazy

[@xanderplayz3446]

I would

[@charliesretrocomputing]

@@user-fw4xk3iz1g why?

[@wariotx]

not needed, never did something for me but slowing my connection

[@mu11668B]

I like how the responses to this comment seem like whoever posted them have never heard of nasty things like EternalBlue.

[@AddicteServer]

​@@mu11668Byou know that it the virus has admin access it can turn off the said firewall

[@MUFCTom]

What the whole simple main problem is: you don’t know what any old joey has done to the OS to debloat it…

[@clewless4759]

Reading through these comments it's clear the majority people have no idea what has an impact on performance and security. With that in mind it's no wonder there is a market for these "improved" Windows ISO's.

[@fitmotheyap]

The amount of people saying you can just use your own security solutions and saying you have more control... I think basic IT security education should be a requirement in school at this point

[@possiblynocturnal]

If anyone wants to have a "debloated" windows, just grab and ltsc iso and use something like chris titus' tool afterwards. Putting your trust into some random small group of people releasing "gaming" windows isos is, uh, not a great idea.

[@foreigngodx6]

Honestly, any software that promises performance uplfits and leans heavily into gaming for gaming is instantly such a huge red flag for me. They all look incredibly janky as if made by some 15 year old kid who has no idea about basic UX

[@NJ-wb1cz]

LTS versions are old builds and your games and apps will be incompatible with it. You already can't really use Windows 10 ltsc because some apps demand the latest windows 10 update. It will be "supported" longer than the regular windows 10, but it only makes sense on computers that aren't expected to be touched overall

[@pkemr4]

Putting your trust into some random group of people for Windows 10/11 debloating

[@AhmadWahelsa]

I pirate games anyway it's already part of "putting your trust into some random small group", just like how you put your trust into some another random group to run these debloaters as admin.

[@pierdolecfabrykasp.zoo.8776]

If anyone wants to have a "debloated" windows, just grab and ltsc iso and put your trust into some random small group of people releasing "debloating tool". Putting your trust into some random small group of people releasing "gaming" windows isos is, uh, not a great idea.

[@pcsecuritychannel]

This video while technically accurate in its general description is clearly being misinterpreted by people in the comments. iso's like Ghost Spectre aren't malware or bloated, they actually do exactly what they say, the issue presented here is removing a bunch of security features and updates may lead to you being vulnerable to malware in the long run, however I'd argue that can be mitigated by using your own 3rd party solution that will be miles better than the default "windows security" anyway. Also, you are totally right about the performance difference being non-existent but I'd argue a lot of these so called "security features" and addons are more of an annoyance than anything and a lot of us want a simpler system where we actually can control what's happening. That's why I'd be tempted to use a custom iso, not for better performance but to have a closer to Windows 7 experience.

[@Еээ]

Gamer these days need a real gaming OS only, at least as a second OS like multi booting OS. That should contains streaming and chatting as well as browsing legit apps. No real time protection because no other files will be downloaded. Games will be from legitimate sources. That will be the safest yet the fastest operating system ever(ofter tumble ofc).

[@yotoprules9361]

Most people installing these custom ISOs probably won't know that and will be running a system without UAC, antivirus or firewall which is very bad. All of this can be achieved by a stock Windows install anyway. These are probably fine on an offline machine or a machine where you don't care about security whatsoever, maybe you use a machine for retro emulation for example, it's perfect for that. As a daily use OS? I wouldn't risk it.

[@dawgre]

there is a modified ISO out there called Reloaded7/Teams10to7 that aims to make Windows 10 IoT LTSC 21H2 more like Windows 7, i haven’t used it and don’t know if it’s creators have done anything nefarious/unsafe but most of the mods it uses are hosted on github and are safe. it’d be worth checking out!

[@POLARTTYRTM]

They are made for old computers, the performance in modern hardware is basically non-existent.

[@LoremIpsum1919]

Rename your channel. It is clear you have no idea what you are talking about.

[@mqb3gofjzkko7nzx38]

Disabling the firewall for better performance would be like disabling all the locks on your car to make it go faster.

[@su-25frogfoot74]

Or drilling out your locks to your house and opening all the doors and windows to maximize airflow.

[@beefax]

drilling many holes through your car to make it weight less

[@_jn0298]

opening the doors to have better aerodynamic

[@oussama7132]

Basically don't use them unless the machine is completely offline at all times. You won't be able to run the majority of pc games, and even if you run emulators, you'd need to manually update every time if you want to emulate an old console I'd probably think of using these to run windows off a usb 2 drive and share ntfs drives on the local network

[@trekkie1701c]

...Honestly even then it feels like an unironic 'just use Linux' thing. You'd at least be able to play some online games and have reasonable assurances no one has snuck malware in (nation states compromising compression libraries notwithstanding). Or just do a manual debloat. But I'd never want to use one of these even on the local network. There's been zero days before against filesharing protocols (it's how WannaCry spread, I believe) among other protocols that might be exposed on a local network. Just way too much of a risk imo, for honestly no real benefit.

[@oussama7132]

@@trekkie1701c from my experience linux doesn't play well with ntfs drives, at least worse than windows. And i don't know linux troubleshooting

[@KopperNeoman]

@@trekkie1701c Even "use Linux" is no excuse to ignore best practice. UNIX systems are less targeted because they're less popular, but they still get zero days. Some of them worse than being unable to print on Tuesdays.

[@trekkie1701c]

@@KopperNeoman Oh sure, and I didn't mean to imply they didn't. However, the ISOs are unlikely to have malware built in that could be used to exploit some new-found vulnerability, unlike the debloated Windows ISOs that are floating around. Additionally, even if you trust the creator to not be malicious, you might not be able to trust them not to have made a mistake, which is... unlikely. Particularly for older versions of Windows (which at least one is based on) you're not getting the latest security updates, and Microsoft does make mistakes. Everyone does; and you really ought to be regularly installing security updates. There's been a few nasty ones over the years (and a few over the last few months, including that WiFi one that you should make sure you're patched against). All the debloating in the world doesn't help if you get cryptojacked or ransomwared. To note that advice does apply to Linux too; you want to do security updates frequently-ish because there's also been a few doozies over there and although less common, you can still have bad stuff happen. *But* in both cases you, again, don't have to worry a ton about malware being bundled in the OS install. And if you're going to install a new OS just to 'debloat' and take a compatibility hit... well, the Linux ISO isn't going to have potential malware on it, and you'll actually be able to safely connect it to the internet.

[@revival_of_the_canned_justice]

>Install "gamer" Windows iso >You can't play games with it That's no Windows, that's just Linux disguised as a custom Windows iso

[@daniel_77.]

Solution: Debloat your own Windows using specific tools, or use linux. Edit: People arguing in the reply section saying that linux is not that good for gaming. I haven't clarified enough, so what i meant to say is that if you tried using tools e.g. NTlite, and you're not satisfied, maybe switching to linux is the last option.

[@pentasquare]

​​@GHOSTSTARSCREAMthat's like quiting fast food by not buying Mcdonalds then going to a subwa /j ubuntu is pretty good nowadays I hear Edit: IM not saying LINUX is BAD I'm just saying ubuntu is not the BEST distro out there

[@sashio1365]

or use windows 10 iot LTSC

[@lussor1]

linux is not for games

[@iSaidNo666]

Linux gaming? Hell nah 💀💀

[@iSaidNo666]

​@@Marktee772cyberpunk? Full of shit

[@lars2k1]

"They made it like XP where the icons don't group" That's actually a good thing, in my opinion. I hated it when MS killed that from W11 and brought it back in a half baked fashion, so I have to use a 3rd party program to fix that. When ungrouped, I can more easily see what window to open that contains a specific document or whatever. When combined, I have to hover over the combined icon first.

[@AlkoholOgerLeonElektronik67]

Firewalls are actually good for performance, so I don't get why they disable it. Windows Firewall has an algorithm to detect DDoS attacks and can in most cases prevent those just fine, aside that a Firewall can be really helpful in other security cases. Also my guess is, that UAC was disabled, was maybe because the ISO makers thought "UAC is probably annoying to gamers, let's just deactivate it". I do get that UAC is annoying, and I have it off myself, on one machine, but for the average uninformed user it's a much better idea to have it on.

[@wariotx]

a well configured firewall perhaps, but a firewall at the network layer is better and faster, windows firewall just gives you the idea of being protected, but yes, uneducated users will probably be fine with whatever windows comes with by default

[@Sagrath696]

A normal user will still click allow in any situation

[@n00bje]

Most people are behind a router with no ports forwarded, so a DDoS coming from the internet won't reach your PC anyway.

[@Qimchiy]

​@@n00bjeGTA Online is one of the worst culprits for letting your PC get hacked. They disabled the Casino heist for awhile because there was a vulnerability that mission allowed full remote access to the victim's computer. That's CRAZY. It's patched now but this isn't the first or only one.

[@Qimchiy]

​@@n00bjeGTA Online is the worst when it comes to this. Rockstar doesn't host the server, a random player in the lobby does. The Casino heist was temporarily disabled because they found an exploit in that mission that let a hacker gain full remote access to someone else's PC.

[@alvinlepik5265]

I have win 10 the ghostspectre version, not because of the alleged performance boost (there is, but it's negligible), but rather for convenience - the ghost toolbox comes in handy. Everything useless is already disabled. That said, lots of services/policies are disabled by default so if one doesn't know what to look for when some specific hardware isn't working, it's definitely less hassle installing ms version.

[@TheNeverPoet]

This, I've been using GS for a long time along with my friends, I've done testing with it and it seems safe and solid from what I can tell, + yeah the toolbox is definitely really handy and personally it's saved me a lot of time

[@nap8187]

You're gonna get pwned you fool​@@TheNeverPoet

[@AhmadWahelsa]

The only thing i needed to enable back was my printer, been using GS since 2020 and never had any issues.

[@Bloom10]

What Atlas does better than any gaming isos is that they give you the options if you want to disable the windows security measures or not

[@EricParker]

Yeah much as I have criticized in the past, atlas is infinitely safer than any of these. Also because they're not shipping an ISO, it is easier to figure out what it is doing.

[@xpower7125]

quite a few ISOs do that at this point. In fat quite a few ISOs have it on by default.

[@JasperFoxo]

@@EricParker aren't iso files just openable with 7 zip though? also what do they ship if not an iso?

[@Moli05]

So atlas is safe? But does it really make a difference in performance?

[@griffin1366]

@@Moli05 Framerates? If you have older hardware, sure. Latency? Some impact (input latency). However I'm not a fan of some of the tweaks they do such as priority tweaks. Okay it might feel faster but in some games or applications you have open in the background, it can actually be worse in other scenarios as well.

[@evqd]

A few years ago I used a Windows 10 ISO that was said to be "for games" and that it was actually faster, but I realized that UAC, AntiMalware and Firewall were disabled. I didn't care about that at first, but when I suddenly started having my google, gaming and Microsoft accounts being hacked, I immediately uninstalled it and always used the antivirus, and to this day my passwords have been leaked and some accounts are still trying to be hacked. I never complained about having low FPS on Windows again.

[@AmirKhan-pz3ju]

This is the way. Never sacrifice your security for a bit of extra performance unless you absolutely need to - Edward Snowden

[@dilw]

it all depends on you 😂 im using win w/o any antivirus and i have no infection at all LOL

[@Taima]

Sounds like you picked one of the shitty shady ones. That can happen just as it's easy to p!rate safely but if you make a silly choice you might get burned. People who are willing to do the research/take a small risk can do so, people who are afraid to or don't think they understand well enough don't have to.

[@ILC_YTP]

The two main issues behind the philosophy these Gaming ISOs seem to have are: 1. If anything effects performance, their solution is just to remove it entirely rather than tweaking the program to not effect performance. Sure some services that run on windows by default a lotta people likely aren't gonna need or utilize, but why remove Windows Defender? While it is true that Windows Defender can effect performance, that's mainly because of real time protection. Why don't these ISOs just disable real time protection and set defender to scan occasionally (once every few days or a week)? What if someone wanted to scan a file they downloaded, or got suspicious and wanted to see if they got infected? They would have to either rely on Virus Total, which won't work offline, and use a third party anti-virus, which would probably use more resources than Defender, even with real time protection disabled. It's also possible to tell Windows Update to delay updates, only install security updates, and not be invasive about restarting the computer to update it. But no, they just disabled the whole thing. Hope you're not using WiFi since a critical vulnerability recently was found, which these ISOs won't let you update to fix it. 2. If anything gets in the way and takes time from the user, even if it's a security related, they disable it. The only benefits for disabling the firewall are no firewall pop ups for opening games that use the internet for the first time, and users wouldn't have to deal with having to mess with the firewall if it's blocking a connection, such as hosting a server. But is it really worth the degrade of security to remove a pop up that only appears once per program accessing the network and only takes two clicks to remove, and to remove firewall blocking shenanigans that only really apply to older games and programs (and that's if they even happen)? No, not really. Better to educate people how the firewall works rather than just disabling a big security feature. And what's the point of disabling UAC? Is a pop up for warning the user that a program wants more access to the computer really that impactful on time and "performance?" Or are these developers still salty over Windows Vista introducing the feature like they're stuck with a Windows XP mindset? Bonus: Why use Windows 11? I know Windows 10 isn't gonna be supported soon, but it's not like these Gaming ISOs are gonna be able to update either. Windows 10 hasn't had a feature update since 2022, so might as well keep using it since there's less of a chance of there being an update later down the line that would break the Gaming ISOs that the devs would have to fix to include it in the next ISO release, compared to Windows 11's yearly feature updates. Windows 10 being older also means more people understand it than Windows 11, so it's easier to develop for it.

[@BxPanda7]

Windows defender caused major lag on my pc as it kept scanning trough my hard drives, so I removed it, now I just regularly scan my pc with multiple non-install anti-malware tools, never had an issue.

[@Ordlnary_Gamer]

Until you do

[@BxPanda7]

@@Ordlnary_Gamer Doubt it, and even if, nothing rogue killer can't remove.

[@GelatekForever]

@@Ordlnary_Gamer 3 years without antivirus and havent gotten a single malware or any data leak

[@兽Arufisu]

​@@Ordlnary_Gamerunless you know what you doing. As long as you dont click any shady things in the internet, its simple as that

[@AhmadWahelsa]

@@Ordlnary_Gamer When? pirating since 2010s (was a teen), from XP to modded W10 without WD and UAC, literally not a single virus....

[@xMdb]

Use AtlasOS or ReviOS which are AME wizard based, they both allow you to keep defender and updates. They are literally just debloat scripts because they don’t distribute isos.

[@FleaMarketSocialist]

I love using the de-bloated windows builds, Mainly Tiny10, in VMs cause it take me back to the times of XP "de-bloating" Simplifying an already simple OS, 0 unwanted services, fast boot on non-ssd drives. _Clean._ Used to capture before and after environment snapshots in those VMs to make portable apps I could run at school and share with the pals on NZB Matrix.

[@thisislocombia]

debloating vanilla windows will always be the best option , don't trust shady 3rd parties.

[@0lei3]

Very interesting channel you got there... Do you have a video maybe explaining how you got into understanding how to find viruses or where to start with understanding viruses.

[@EricParker]

Could be a good idea.

[@sainaro2335]

Id love this!

[@IsM1ku]

just some advice for people who dont know, HAVING RAM IN USE ISNT BAD, unused RAM is wasted RAM so if the system can cache stuff that you're likely to use then why not do that, the system will automatically free up more RAM for programs that actually need it, so basically having RAM in use is a direct upgrade, especially if you have 32GB+ where you're very unlikely to run out anyway

[@JasonL-km5rl]

this is windows not android. different system

[@uooooooooh]

The used memory totals in windows taskmgr does not include RAM being used for caching.

[@lennywhere]

i prefer not being forced to upgrade to 32 GB, but you got a point

[@kurumitokisaki5766]

While "unused ram is wasted ram" is a true statement it seems a bit.... misguided to me. RAM usage still needs to be kept in check. Things could quickly spiral further out of control than they already have with everything using Electron causing massive ram increase requirements that frankly shouldn't be necessary so quickly. I'm not sure I'd classify stock windows as "out of control ram usage", but there defiantly is a point to trying to keep things minimized ram wise when possible.

[@NinjaQuick]

Yes I'd rather it cache game assets than load 1200 services that it rarely if ever uses, but when it does randomly use them causes frame hitches due to cache misses.

[@ardwetha]

I always disable Defender. I download from trusted sources and Windows defender doesn't do shit against zero days.

[@hactavis]

exactly, its pointless for anyone that knows what they are doing

[@dilw]

true ngl i also deleting it not just "disable" it

[@TheSillyHaxor]

windows defender saved me alot of times when im analyzing malicious software

[@makmakg242]

I used a regularly-updated version of the Ghost Spectre Compact ISO (w/ Defender) for a year, and I haven't encountered any malicious problems at all.

[@YuutoKuranashi]

These ISO's are not for average user. You MUST know what you're doing. I've been using Ghost 11 for almost half a year now and didn't get any issues so far. You should manually install gpu drivers. It did connect to the internet for me but it may not be the case for others so you also probably need drivers for that too. For the animations, it's just disabled in the settings. I got the one without defender for special purposes but if someone wants to play games, they should install with defender. You should be aware of the risks and not be stupid.

[@maverick9708]

Pay attention to the 1% and 0.1% lows because those differences can often be much more noticeable and indicative of how the experience varies To be fair, you can represent the whole thing with 1 or 2 stats but latency and framerates are part of the perceived performance picture

[@stickfigure31]

As a Linux gammer I didn't know this was a thing and find it funny, because without "debloating" most Linux distro are way more lightweight then any of these debloated windows ISOs (and even non native games run better under Linux on my system then on Windows). Now to be fair it's not for everyone, but if your at the point of installing hacked windows 11 maybe just try Pop_os. Which does actually provide security, unlike the modified Windows 11.

[@KopperNeoman]

@user-vb1kj9bm6f Seems like wasted cache potential to me. Good benchmark though.

[@harpskid]

@user-vb1kj9bm6f How'd you get debian down to 300mb? I'm on xfce desktop and I can't get things under 500mb.

[@hactavis]

linux is cool but i wont use it on my main pc. works great for my old laptop though👍

[@xsr0923]

I ve been using "gaming os" w/o defender, updates and UAC on Admin account, scanning time to time with malwarebytes for 5 years and havent got any system infection. It all depends how stupid the user is.

[@the_red_gamer]

What os was it and if it had custom options selection what did you put? I'm happy with my personally debloated Windows but im still curious

[@xsr0923]

@@the_red_gamer Ghost spectre win10 lite version without defender

[@griffin1366]

Scanned my SP1 Windows 7 no updates build yesterday with both Windows 11 Defender + Malwarebytes. Nothing after 3 years.

[@dilw]

true ngl im using gaming os too w/o defender and my system have no infection at all it all depends how stupid user is right

[@HeroRareheart]

I remember looking into Atlas OS forever ago and the second I saw it disabled UAC and specter/meltdown mitigations I instantly turned tail and ran. Sure, I'm a technical user and far less likely to download a virus by mistake but everyone makes mistakes eventually and viruses often get hidden in plain sight.

[@xanderplayz3446]

Until you realize how much more performance that branch prediction adds.

[@Daniel_VolumeDown]

they changed it and now uac is apparently on by default on atlas. Idk about meltdown/spectre

[@GraveUypo]

oh back when i used a 2500k, the mitigation patch ruined my pc. ate like 40% of my cpu's performance. instant disable never to enable again. it's not nearly as big a problem on modern cpus so i don't touch it

[@Sypaka]

Was AtlasOS that one with the obfuscated code in the github?

[@onukai]

uac is now enabled by default, also if you paid more attention to the atlas folder everything disabled/removed was there to re-enable

[@rayyanberg8974]

Ghost comes with the option to install with Defender (+DEF) choosing the non-secure one to install is your fault

[@ai-spacedestructor]

from what i can tell there are good reasons to get rid of onedrive because at some point it has redirected the locations of all the folders it syncs by default, so anything installing in to those locations or any files moved there will actually be moved to onedrive instead. just for soley that reason i have entirely removed it and reverted that change, i want my folders to be very much where they say they are and not some fuckery to trick me in to accidentally using a software that does the same thign as what im already using.

[@emily1]

One drive is unlikely useful unless you're likely to be a target of a cyber attack/malware or you're going to break your hard drive across your leg. I can easily recover data from laptops that I use that break thanks to NVME slotting and that's all I need tbh. My only enemy is file corruption by apps themselves in which onedrive will never save.

[@ai-spacedestructor]

@@emily1 as a person who uses mechanical drives the ability to have automated backups is more useful and i also use it as my means to move files between devices and when i have it where its needed i just delete it from the backup so i dont have to send my self something just to move it on a different device. however i already have a solution for my backup needs and onedrive is just getting the way of me trying to use my computer the way i want to.

[@Eyevou]

ISOs on the internet are a "use at your own risk" type deal and those that publish them should make that fact more clear. If you want to use a debloated ISO you need to know what you're getting into. There are examples of small form ISOs that are 100% software compatible but the general "gaming os" developer is going to ignore it for a smaller ISO size. They turn off stupid things as well. As someone who debloats their own system, It's much more effective to learn how to debloat your own ISO and make the system uniquely yours but if you're unable to do that then use a debloat script, 100% agree.

[@Taima]

Creator of XOS put out a series of tweets on 6/27 covering why this is crap beyond things like common sense of a user accepting less out of the box security if using an ISO that removes Defender: "Before we begin, every custom ISO maker should make it clear on their servers that these versions of Windows lack certain security features and shouldn't be used by inexperienced users. For who don't know what they are doing, even Defender + Firewall can't save them. 1- The computers in the benchmark videos have poor specs or haven't been tested in games where custom ISOs will stand out. Custom ISOs give chance to the CPU to allocate more resources. You won't see much difference in GPU bottleneck scenarios.1- The computers in the benchmark videos have poor specs or haven't been tested in games where custom ISOs will stand out. Custom ISOs give chance to the CPU to allocate more resources. You won't see much difference in GPU bottleneck scenarios. 2- 05:05 "Disabling Defender is the ONLY way to gain performance, it doesn't even affect latency." The test below was done by me on 2021. It only covers the e2e latency difference on services. Just by tweaking services you can get ~2.5ms (10%) benefit on input lag. (Image is on his Twitter, @imribiy - tweets from June 27, 2024) 2++In this test, Defender wasn't included in the OS, so both tests don't have any Defender-related services/drivers. Disabling Defender and tweaking services vs. complete stock Windows has a bigger gap than you see on the graph. I dont even mention other tweaks, just services. 3- 06:33, As a "security expert," he doesn't know how memory caching works on Windows. The moment he sees 1GB usage on VM, he immediately asserts that it's lower than what the owner of the video says. Of course, you're on VM with limited resources allocated. 4- 11:39 "Snake oil tweaks for money", Cat and I've been friends for a long time. We're just trying to get some return for the time we spent on these projects. We offer overclocking and tweaking sessions for who wanna get more performance from their PCs and trust our knowledge. 5- 13:36 You're one of the other people who doesn't know what DPC latency is, what end-to-end latency is, and what the relationship is between them. Just like the owner of the benchmark video you're watching. 6- 16:56 "Having a system is a browser is just no-sense", are you real? As a "cybersecurity expert" you should know Edge is constantly running at background, it sends "samples" to Microsoft etc. You can have 3rd party browsers, nobody is gonna arrest you. 7- I am impressed that you can assess the security of an operating system simply by looking at the programs running in the task manager. Lastly, I agree that custom ISOs aren't essential. If you do your homework, you can optimize a genuine copy of Windows yourself and can get greater results. Custom ISOs are just presets for those who don't want to do the research."

[@MarkParkTech]

If I use windows for gaming, I create my own custom ISO using something like nlite - because it's far easier than the manual process. I would never redistribute because I don't trust the iso's out there, and why should anyone else trust mine... however, I'd be willing to do a write up on how to slim down a windows install to just the essentials and automate it. At least then, people can easily verify the work and know that what is said to be on the iso is actually what is on it. Always use official Microsoft install media as a base.

[@mu11668B]

I really feel like the big "tech" channels should have the hosts required to go through basic cybersecurity trainings. Such trainings are now enforced in public sectors and many corporations, and yet many "tech influencers" still even fall for malware exe files in email attachments. Many people get tech info from them, and if they could help spread the words, I'd bet many issues would be resolved much sooner. I do debloat Windows since Windows 10 came around, and my main focus is literally for security. My system runs smoother than blank Windows 10 official ISO installation while having even more strict security-related policies enabled and extra firewall block entries. Just get rid of non-security bloat add-ons on your own that grind harddrives or connect to the internet in the background without users' consent. These are the culprits for wasting resources, not security features or updates.

[@spinosaurr]

Could u share some info what exactly u turn off / on and all the stuff ?

[@charliesretrocomputing]

_linus tech tips_

[@KopperNeoman]

Those who pass the training are given a pat on the head, and then the Diverse Equitable and Inclusive guy in a dress who couldn't even turn the computer on gets the job.

[@GhostGlitch.]

@@KopperNeoman lol no. it's actually a significant detriment to any job hunting to be gender non conforming. but ok.

[@vidal9747]

@@charliesretrocomputing I don't think it is very fair to blame it on him specifically. You can always have an idiotic employee.

[@Firespecialstar]

reality is : those ISOs may help with performance if you're running the computer in an HDD, and even there, a windows 10 LTSC IoT (an official microsoft build) iso is still good enough to use as a baseline to enhance and make it perform better

[@hactavis]

i use iot ltsc and dont do anything to it. install it, get gpu and cpu drivers, all my software and im done. works perfect. i dont care about gaining a few fps by picking apart my OS

[@Firespecialstar]

@@hactavis ye i kinda do the same, the difference is that i kill off telemetry and any privacy thing that can bother me and that's pretty much it, since i need a full o.s. for the stuff i do and can't really bother with a sliced up o.s. without knowing what's even missing in the first place

[@hactavis]

@@Firespecialstari recommend this site privacydotsexy, it makes a custom powershell script with everything you want to disable and has tons of options

[@Rosalies_]

I’m not happy with MS and don’t defend them, but Windows 11’s bloat is easily managed with local group policy, PowerShell and sysinternals. It ships in this state because MS knows that low-hanging fruit (ie Home users) won’t bother removing features.

[@NinjaQuick]

Which is far beyond what most users are willing to or savvy enough to even know how to do, hence people go for these sorts of projects.

[@Mavendow]

MS knows this which is why Windows Home can no longer use GPEdit (Group Policy Editor). PowerShell has a restrictive ExecutionPolicy by default which is a showstopper for most. Sysinternals is the only one which comes with no catches, except... What normal user would know it exists?

[@emily1]

Well I debloated mine a few days ago using a github script featured by SOG so they assumed wrong on that front. I love the amount of extra space I have from the pre installed garbage.

[@Rokk_]

@@Mavendow Windows home editions have not shipped with GPEdit since like XP or Vista.

[@noway9880]

very true.

[@techadvofficial]

What Linux distro you use? Also they disable UAC to auto-execute their scripts without needing the user to accept the prompt

[@SeamanLord]

I Can’t wait for my cousin to ask for help installing “WINDOWS 11/10/9/7 EXTREME GAMING CUSTOM ISO UNLIMITED RAM 8k TEXTURES”. Idk how you choose these video ideas but too many have been relevant in my battle to teach him basic internet etiquette😂 Keep up the great work, I can’t believe it’s already almost 50k🎉🥳

[@xpower7125]

windows 9, what timeline are you in ;D

[@SeamanLord]

@@xpower7125 😂 lol. that one was more of a personal joke. I have a ton of family and they always come to me for anything that has a screen. So before windows 10 released a few tried out to get me to help them download “windows 9”. As a whole my family has probably created more E-waste PCs than a Public school😭

[@wfwfwffw]

@@xpower7125 windows 11, laptop is slow because of the bloatware on here :/

[@SeamanLord]

@@xpower7125 😂 lol. It’s more of a personal joke. I have a huge family and anytime someone has trouble they call me. But a couple cousins asked me to help install “Windows 9” (pre-windows 10 launch). It blows my mind how kids spawn in with a Chromebook and an IPad but have 0 internet etiquette(I’m starting to think that’s not the right word) stg I replied, so sorry if it doubles up.

[@JasperFoxo]

@@SeamanLord so unhelpful man, its not that hard to develop windows 9, smh

[@xXStringZXx]

I think the biggest issue is not that all ISOs could be insecure but that people that install them usually have no experience or don't understand what they're installing, hence causing security issues in masses. I had used ReviOS and AltasOS for years now, only with Defender installed and I've been far from being hacked because I know where not to click and what not to accept. Now.. if an ISO disables defender without an option to disable that feature, that's a bad ISO all the way to hell.

[@abrokenpal]

>makes a video on how we should not use any gaming ISOs that have extreme debloats and calls any top line difference a "margin of error" >does not test the ISOs on any low-spec system to notice the huge differences of which the said ISOs are aiming to achieve, and instead just tells you to get rid of telemetry

[@estebanod]

I haven’t seen many of these being advertised as a way to boost fps (some do but not most), it’s usually just because it takes up less RAM and has a smaller footprint on the HDD, but it’s something that can be achieved on your own with debloaters without uninstalling all the drivers which will ended up being installed later anyways.

[@MichaelHenderson-h4w]

I notice your VM is running on an AMD Engineering Sample CPU. Care to share details? I'm thinking of getting an EPYC board, and wondering if the engineering samples are worth it or too sketchy.

[@Sypaka]

It fun how they tweak stuff, which doesn't need tweaking at all. Disabling WIndows Defender+Mitigations is a black flag. The firewall being disabled was a literal joke. They thought, if they set the network connection to "Public"; it will do what it says, but this actually requires an active firewall. They left the barn unlocked. lmao.

[@BennettBeach]

While I agree that you should never use a gaming ISO, I think your video title is a bit deceiving, you never actually go into detail of what risks you are exposing yourself by doing so. It basically turned into a you should never BUY a gaming ISO. =)

[@johnboyboy919]

-bloatware -telemetry -background processes Once you get installing and using windows that stuff will add up

[@dunste123]

I wonder why GhostSpectre had jetbrains toolbox installed (or well, it looks like the jetbrains toolbox icon)

[@MoZ1899]

I've been running ghost spectre's iso for years without antivirus (no windows defender too) & got the uac disabled. it's more of a user-side issue than the iso itself imo. i don't click weird links, i test stuff on my linux, i don't use bloated browsers full of trackers and stuff, i manually update my windows & i always read stuff before doing anything. awareness & knowledge are the best thing one can have when it comes to cyber hygiene and it can be learnt from ppl who actually know what they're doing & experience. so for you folks out there who still don't know what your OS truly does. please do learn more abt it. read everything available. don't watch, but read. digital privacy is the most important thing in our lives rn, so I'd recommend you to keep it minimum in your socials & do due diligence before you give up your personal data to anyone, any corporation for that matter. you're the only one who can control your digital privacy, not your technician or some guy on youtube.

[@CrystalDabber]

Words well-spoken, my brother❤

[@regele4063]

windows 10 LTSC never let me down -official, from MS -long support period -no bs apps -no ms store (but you can get it back with some commands, never needed it) -nothing broken

[@Xathian]

"Nothing broken" except every DirectX update since 2016, congrats on lacking DXR. The LTSC cult needs to end

[@regele4063]

@@Xathian only games which I have on that PC are ets2 cs2 Minecraft and some other small stuff everything works fine and if you have rt capable hw you won't be looking at gaming isos to begin with

[@acev3521]

@@Xathian How is LTSC is a cult but ray tracing isn’t when it looks good in one game and even then only if you have at least 4070? Lmao

[@griffin1366]

@@Xathian Can you elaborate? I can play 25 year old games just fine on LTSC.

[@alternatedenz]

@@griffin1366 25 year old games, DX12 isnt fully supported

[@febroeth]

Former Windows 11 Ghostspectre user here.... When Windows 11 released to the public I want to try it out, unfortunately my laptop at that time are not compatible with Windows 11 and decided to find workaround. One of my friends on Facebook shared a post about Ghostspectre mods, they said it's bloatware free and can be installed in every laptop/PC, without thinking any further I download the ISO, create a bootable then installed it on my laptop. The first thing I noticed is RAM usage only take 1GB, it's really snappy, and no bugs. Gaming performance is still the same as Windows 10 but with less stuttering tho..... Fast forward to 2024, I still have those laptop lying around still using Ghostspectre mods. FYI, I installed the COMPACT + DEF version because I wanna feel the Vanilla Windows 11 and have the Windows Defender installed but it really did a great job to reducing the resource usage.

[@GraveUypo]

that's not an iso issue, it's an user issue. i disable all this crap, never use anti virus, never had a problem so long as i don't put other people's flash drives on my pc. that said, i never installed a custom iso. i'd rather debloat myself. and well, since late last year, linux has taken over as my main OS.

[@TerranSpacePolice]

if someone can prove to me that its possible to play valorant on linux somehow, i would switch lol

[@b4g4b3l]

My dude, when installing an new OS and you are prompted to select time and currency just pick English (world) it wont install a lot of useless apps.... EU laws dont let microsoft install all that bloatware on your os.... its peaty much the standard these days to pick that one ..... TheoJoe made a video about it like 1 year ago...

[@dawgre]

love how nobody is questioning the name “GHOST SPECTRE” 😭 yes i would definitely install an operating system on my computer that is named after a dangerous security vulnerability and looks like those bootleg OSes i used to install when i was like 8 and didn’t know better lol

[@POLARTTYRTM]

Ghost spectre existed before spectre vulnerability came to light lol. This OS has been in continuous development for several years.

[@OliversTech]

Ghostspectre reminds me of that Norton ghost crap that existed a while ago. Idk why lmao

[@Jdbye]

I was never a fan of these debloated ISOs because they always remove way too much stuff, to the point that important functions that many people use are just plain missing, and you can't get them back without completely reinstalling Windows. If you want debloated Windows, do it yourself, there are tools for it and you have control over what gets removed and what doesn't, so you can keep features that are important to you.

[@noxlar]

if you misses anything.. they can all be installed using the tool you get with spectre.

[@1K3-s9h]

Just switch to Window Iot Ltsc Enterprise best debloated version of windows from Microsoft themselves.

[@zalnars7847]

They don't know anything, they are paid by Microsoft.

[@noxlar]

i used that for 4 years, and i was used to installing windows every 10-12 months.. ... was nearly perfect.. no forced updates.. i was in charge lol.. anyway..there where some problems, but it wasent to big deal.. ended up broken ms store.. and some software wasent compatible because of unknown os. some drivers refused to work.. but, i didnt care anyway..

[@JmbFountain]

7:32 if you are running a CNC offline, you should be using RT Linux or QNX or Windows CE or something like that.

[@Icecube095]

One thing we should also never forget: If something is for free we, the users, are the product - in this case for the malware developers

[@JasperFoxo]

usually unless its open source (linux is starting to become a better windows than windows)

[@lennywhere]

linux users are all products of this susiety

[@Icecube095]

@@JasperFoxo Yes open-source is kinda the only exception

[@b4g4b3l]

you dont get "malware" if you just use your os to play games ! games dont give you viruses ! i have an laptop with debloated w10 (w11 for like 10 days) that i surf the web and pay my bills with and my gaming pc with revi 10 (for like 3-4 years) that i only use discord and play games... guess what, i never had to buy another ssd ! I wouldent recommend any1 use custom os made by random dudes on internet as main OS ! but the story of your video its that custom os give you viruses malware its misleading, just use custom gamin os for what its made, for gaming not cornhub !

[@antimatter31]

I already used a gaming ISO, is it over for me?

[@xanderplayz3446]

If it is Atlas, or Ghost Spectre, no. It really depends on the vendor.

[@MrGrappleMan]

Unless it is Garuda or some trusted Linux distro.

[@blakbike]

i'm currently using ggos (although with UAC on) is it bad?

[@xanderplayz3446]

@@blakbike Looks kinda sketchy. The github repos haven’t been updated for 2 years.

[@halfhydra7280]

What about the kind of debloating that isn't an iso? Playbooks using something called Ameliorated. I've seen that and theoretically it's just a script you run on stock windows which wouldn't be as bad as a full on iso, but I'm not sure whether it's trustworthy or not.

[@alifnaufal]

It fucks up your OS and cannot be undone. You need to reset Windows in order to undo.

[@emerson-biggons7078]

I've used Ghost Spectre for years. Zero issues, zero viruses. Multiple computers, multiple installs, multiple users. I don't know how you managed to not have working networking but it was probably your fault honestly. I would make my own iso, but seeing as Ghost has the same effect but makes newer installs significantly less of a headache I don't see the point.

[@timoclemens5379]

I used AtlasOS for a long time and it really improved my performance in Escape from Tarkov like 20%. I recently reinstalled again a Win11 version with all the bloat removed and had similar/same performance.

[@JJFX-]

I've done a lot of competitive overclocking and benchmarking. The benefit of stripping OS components quickly has diminishing returns. Shotgun blasting holes in the OS can even cause more issues if you don't know what you're doing because it may silently throw errors or continuously check for something it expects to be running. I have a script to temporarily disable defender and such when needed but any advantages that I'd be looking for compared to a clean install with basic optimizations is negligible to the average person. What affects most people is their own startup programs, OEM bloat and simply not doing basic system maintenance. The only practical reason to run a stripped iso is you have a VERY limited or outdated system and even then these questionable 'gaming' packages aren't what you'd want.

[@regele4063]

wdym stripping os for XOC is key for the last seconds just don't remove ie for video drivers

[@skuxsaint_4386]

For the love of god , when doing these tests , actually install from the respective sources. You didnt install Ghost Spectre from the offical channel which has a more updated windows 10 iso compared to the one you installed which could have been tampered since its not official:v

[@lowgoingman]

To be fair this "margin of error" becomes a really noticable boost in performance on low end machines

[@tobi4833]

I liked the difference in my gameplay alot with a gaming OS so much that I reverse engineered the thing and made my own 👍 guys you should do this if they truely make a difference rather than running somebody elses ISO.

[@100Create]

Make your own ISO, I'll daily drive it

[@Thegoatchaser-xz9ej]

He suggests using the official windows. Hope you understand there is no real benefit and you can turn off telemetry and ms apps by yourself without needing any ISO.

[@andreluiz9726]

I wonder how bad would be to use a "gaming windows iso" in a vm. I play cod using gpu passthrough in a kvm and considered using atlas os etc to improve latency. Looking glass is that good so I need none of that but still...

[@uooooooooh]

Just make the modifications to the OS yourself. Why would you ever trust a Windows download that's had full permission to modify any system file to do whatever?

[@SpudCommando]

the discord purchase stuff blew my brain with how ridiculous this stuff is! who is buying this crapware🤣

[@griffin1366]

People in third-world countries that can make a days wage for selling a single pack to an American. Usually these are just using the free things people make and then claiming it as their own. Whos buying it? People upset with Windows, who want a competitive edge, who have money but don't have the time to get into tweaking.

[@MitchellClarkson]

Two things to get out of the way first: First, I don't recommend nor trust using most of these Windows installations, as not only are they of dubious quality but their creators are not very skilled, are usually stupidly greedy and some are scammers, period. Secondly, the average user who looks into these things has moved on from custom ISOs to playbooks and toolkits, as custom ISOs can just be unpredictable. Now to what I really wanted to write: *This video has a lot of extremely misleading information* regarding not just on what a custom ISO does and the average userbase of this software, but also about the point of these things in the first place. A lot of custom Windows distributions that are even a little bit reputable give you the option of maintaining things like Defender, Update and Firewall intact, so the fact that you're claiming that they just nuke it without notice is just bogus, specially since any developer worth their salt will explicitly state what they're messing with, what they're altering and what they're axing. You're not trimming down Windows to this extreme thinking you'll need every security measure at every second, a lot, if not the majority, of people that run custom/modded Windows installations are aware of what risks might be involved, and the fact that someone is not conscious enough to not trust literally everything they download or browse off the internet just to end up with a bricked PC in a situations like this is a simple case of natural selection. Oh right, and let's not forget how you're glossing over how pretty much everyone who has even slight knowledge on tinkering with OSs knows the fact that Windows 10/11 have a buttload of processes that can only be described as bloating spyware, so no wonder someone wants to axe them in the first place. Let's also not forget how you're thinking that "latency" and high FPS counter is what really matters in these, if you look at the very same videos you're showing, ReviOS is giving a much better 1% FPS reading than stock Windows while also keeping a low frame time, both metrics being just as important if not more than whatever peak FPS you can reach on a game. What a freaking joke of a video, someone in the comments called you a fearmonger and I can't help but agree.

[@justaguy3403]

Essentially delete System32 for max game experience

[@ThePennitentOne]

15:22 Is that name you put there a intentional reference to a certain show or just there

[@JeemsJustJeems]

Bet you $20 that user who got the boot-kit woulda got owned on a stock system anyway. I was hoping this video would be about exposing super secret and creative malware hidden inside these ISOs, but alas so far no data on that front. User error can't be patched.

[@ecluid1829]

I do debloat any Windows PC I get using open source software but ISOs are a security nightmare lol. Great video though man! I thought it was up to par with one with 250k+ views.

[@arbitervildred8999]

so he basically had a skill issue and a zoomer take over custom builds of windows? i'm using spectre for almost 3 years by now, and never had an issue, as long as you keep your virus definitions up to date with microsoft server and not some scammy custo kms you're good EDIT: debloat is not all about fps, sometimes you just need to cut 200 processes down to 80, and stop microsoft spying on your minecraft gameplay by removing all the crap they install and run in the background. but you should never remove defender and updates. (in your example, you went with superlite but didn't chose the defender aswell. I find compact + DEF to be the cleanest of all other custom builds)

[@bed3499]

what is custom kms?

[@AhmadWahelsa]

4 years for me, Windows 7 being fully out of support including Steam support made me to switch, but at the time my hardware is absolute toaster that i have to put my trust in some random ISO, and it's safe to say, Ghost Spectre earned my trust (including my friends) and i will always install it even if my PC is more than capable to run modern Windows.

[@noxlar]

@@AhmadWahelsa 2years from me, had zero problems.. and i love tweaking shit in windows lol

[@alicia9290]

One important note is that disabling automatic sample submission in Windows Defender can *dramatically* reduce its effectiveness. Almost a 30% reduction in detection rate, by at least some tests.

[@SillyKlaus]

gaming

[@lheannelheannelheanne]

gaming

[@meerkat5818]

gaming

[@frozenporkchops]

gaming

[@wafflelmao]

gaming

[@Daniel636-j7l]

*gaming's all over the replies and comment*

[@rarehyperion]

With Atlas disabling those security features are optional now so its perfectly safe as long as you chose the options to keep them enabled

[@blehmeh9889]

Linux Mint with the MATE desktop is my "gaming ISO". Seems to work just fine.

[@davidscann]

honestly linux is the way to go (steam deck proved this fact) but games with EAC still exists :( it's why it's still not quite mainstream yet edit note: riot has fully pivoted and added vanguard to every game of theirs too so a big chunk of esports games are not playable

[@xpower7125]

anticheats?

[@awesomekalin55]

@@davidscann EAC has a "Linux compatibility" feature, but it has to be enabled by developers

[@blehmeh9889]

@@xpower7125 I don't play games with linux-unfriendly anticheat. That's the solution. It's a bandaid rip, but I've ripped that bandaid and will sometimes have to rip it again. I've been enjoying Counterstrike 2, Helldivers 2, Payday 2, Deep Rock Galactic, 9-bit Armies, Garry's Mod, modded minecraft, Theotown, and plenty of others. Some of my favorite games even have native linux ports, while others do not. Also, when you play games on Linux consistently, Valve tailors your feed on Steam to games that work OK on Linux, be it through proton or a native port, so the result of this is that I haven't experience any "windows game FOMO" because I don't see windows games that I can't play unless I notice my friends playing one, and even then it's a coinflip whether that windows game even remotely interests me. Also, the success of the Steamdeck has been motivating more and more developers to give linux support or at least proton support for their anticheat a fair shake. It's not a perfect solution. Sometimes my friends do play a game with an anti-cheat that only works on Windows. Other times, a game's multiplayer system may not have an anticheat (or may have an anticheat that can be disabled), yet that isn't the only obstacle to the multiplayer working. I tried playing the Age of Empires 2 remaster with some friends on windows. The problem was, the game appeared to work perfectly fine but running it in Proton always caused a desync a couple minutes into the game that abruptly ended the match for everyone. That night I simply gave up instead of continuing to attempt to play the game. (It turns out there's patches and configs to get around this but I didn't put in more research, I simply shifted to playing other RTS titles). All that being said, I consider it a small price to pay in exchange for having greater control over my computer (not even 100% control since I still use some proprietary software like Steam, just greater control). This control isn't all fluff or ideological moral superiority like some interpret it to be, it imparts a real difference in how well I can use my PC; For instance, was able to run a full game development environment AND complete an entire 4 year college education on a business laptop computer that came out when I was in middle school. It was a Thinkpad X230. I installed Debian on that thing, and I used it for writing papers, programming research scripts and the occasional basic physics simulation, and software development. I also was able to run Blender, Gimp, the Godot game engine, and a web browser bursting at the seams with tabs and tabs of documentation for these programs all at the same time on just 4 GB of RAM. I was able to do this because these programs and the OS I was running on are free and open source, and in such a development model, the users of these programs have a great deal of leverage over how development goes, what features are prioritized, and spotting inefficiencies in these programs that need to be buffed out. I was free to configure these programs and my desktop environment to turn off features I didn't need and free system resources for the ones that I did, and I was able to build basic games for game jams, for fun, and just my own personal growth as a programmer. The bitter pill to swallow about free and open source software is that a lot of responsibility to use it well does fall on the user, but the tradeoff is you can get so much stronger returns over actually having real control over your computer, and not wrestling it away to an alien third party entity who neither has your best interests at heart nor understands your behaviors and goals on the computer as well as you do. It's a rabbit hole I am very happy that I went down, but I've become disillusioned with the "year of the linux desktop" naivety that everyone should use computers the way that I do. If you are happy with your computer being simpler to use and the black box design of your system, occasional privacy breaches, sprawling ancient technical debt, and inefficiency don't bother you, more power to ya and you may wish to stick with Windows instead. Instead, my more conservative hope as opposed to a "linux future" is that free and open source linux can represent a viable enough competitor to Microsoft that they improve their system to the point that users can experience some increased efficiency and freedom.

[@techchannelwindows]

Why you should never watch Erik Parker videos, you disabled your firewall and ALL security on your Windows xp connecting to the internet because if you watch laglifes video you can see that there are no viruses, NONE,so you can’t say much

[@evilleader1991]

Ghost Spectre is legit

[@ancientmadness-rlk]

I remember sailing the high seas and seeing people share OS ISO's. I always told people to never download them and to only get them from Microsoft. The only OS ISO's I have is Arch Linux and a custom debloated Windows 11 that I created myself.

[@asdion]

Solution: don't use win 11

[@CharlieRAnimaMX]

only until 2025... or Jan 12, 2027. for the W10 LTSC (but in my experience LTSC is not very good for general gaming)

[@Dumbass2011Kid]

go linux

[@pogmom]

Solution: don't use Windows

[@imaguyyesmale]

​@@pogmomNot a solution : Use an OS that is not POSIX and Windows

[@redaktorpodlaski]

@@imaguyyesmale o?

[@Savitarax]

This was my observation testing these ISO’s with arguably the most stable variables taken into consideration. They all do about the same thing,

[@min3craftpolska514]

I love how there's so much Windows fanboys in the comments rambling about how they disabled defender and firewall and nothing happened and for you to quit your bullshit. People just don't know what they're saying.

[@Powawized]

well i guess you know what you are saying because you have no knowledge at all

[@alternatedenz]

because you know everything what happened to using your brain? defender is annoying

[@DieLangeMan]

I'm running ghost spectre for years. They don't ask money for tweaks either. Currently running 24h3 they released moment 4 and 5 aswell. You can choose for updates if you want to. Once you installed 22h1 for instance and you want 22h2 you don't need to do a fresh install.

[@georgefloydtv.]

I deleted windows defender a long time ago, still not hacked. Use your brain and don't do anything stupid

[@Kovar99YT]

As someone that works for a healthcare company as an IT guy, I shit you not most of our complaints and tickets come from windows 11 users disabling something lol

[@CyanDumBell_MC]

I have never heard and know "Gaming ISOs"

[@Floo20008]

i wouldnt even use YOUR solution for debloating, it turns off windows defender and you cant turn it back on unless you create a restore point

[@ReaIYoBlue]

Just use LTSC.

[@griffin1366]

You're paying for a $1,600+ license?

[@hactavis]

@@griffin1366 no, downloading from massgrave

[@alternatedenz]

@@griffin1366 bro noone pays for windows

[@comradenadia7261]

I think these isos can make sense provided you are NOT using them on a standard internet client computer(by internet client i mean juat connecting to web services). If you ONLY stick to trusted applications, i can see the appeal of this; especially in a virtual machine where u need to run a couple windows specific programs. But yeah, probably not a good substitute for a standard, "modern" OS.

[@AQDuck]

I find it fascinating how far people are willing to go to _not_ install Linux on their machine...

[@K-Trell]

These test had to be in a VM or rigged because ghost 11 improved my frames in games around 20 and runs smoother.

[@exaq]

you don't need windows defender if you don't have severe brain damage

[@paneledp]

which is most of the people who are using these "gaming" isos

[@georgefloydtv.]

Based and redpilled

[@lussor1]

Removing Edge breaks a lot of unexpected things. In my case I couldn't run games from MS store

[@alicia9290]

If you remove Edge via the EU mechanism (which leaves "Microsoft Edge Update" and "Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime" installed -- Edge Update should just keep updating the WebView2 Runtime, *not* reinstall the Edge app entirely), nothing should break. Most of the 'other' methods of removing Edge also tear out Edge Update and WebView2 Runtime, the latter of which is needed by a surprising number of apps.

[@noxlar]

@@alicia9290 thanks for the tip.. haven't uninstalled it yet.. but, its o my to do list.. i hate every app microsoft makes when the integrate it with system files.. and its so dam annoying, they run by it self.. hogging, memory and cpu.. im in charge, not microsoft