Worried about Windows 11 bloat and want a bit more control over what goes into its ISOs? Over the weekend, a new version of Tiny11 Builder in PowerShell guise arrived.

Tiny11 is a stripped-down version of Microsoft's flagship operating system. We took a look at it last year, and while it was a technical tour de force, having a bit more control over what is and isn't included in the setup media would have been welcomed.

Enter the latest version of Tiny11 Builder, which consists of a PowerShell script that takes an existing Windows 11 ISO image and emits a streamlined version, shorn of such fripperies as Solitaire, Alarms, Weather, and Edge.

The author of the software uploaded a
video of the script in action over the weekend and shared the project in a GitHub repository, saying it is "a stepping stone for an even more fleshed-out solution."

A user needs to be quite comfortable with PowerShell to run the script, although if you're the type who likes to fiddle with Windows, then dropping in a command line is unlikely to pose too much of a problem.

However, we'd also have to slap a fairly large health warning on this. Yes, it is a fun tool, and there is a certain joy to be had in stripping out the bloatware that ships with Windows 11 these days, but the resulting ISO is not officially sanctioned by Microsoft and won't be supported. There is also no guarantee that what gets output won't come with its own set of security holes.

The Tiny 11 Builder author said: "My main goal is to use only Microsoft utilities like DISM, and no utilities from external sources." There is also an unattended answer file, which can be used to bypass the Microsoft Account prompt during the out-of-box experience.

Even considering the health warning, the script itself appears relatively innocuous and simply strips out the worst of Microsoft's excesses. According to the author: "The only executable included is oscdimg.exe, which is provided in the Windows ADK and is used to create bootable ISO images."

It's an impressive bit of scripting, although it is unclear who, other than enthusiasts, it is aimed at. The slimmed-down image does indeed require less disk space, but many of Windows 11's other sins - such as its hardware compatibility requirements - remain in place. You will also need an activation key since this is, despite the customized ISO, an installation of Windows. ®

https://www.theregister.com//2024/04/22/tiny11_builder_update/