Imagine a new version of Windows being released called "Windows Optimal" In addition to Home, Professional and Pro you get to buy Optimal. The catch is that it is priced 4x the home version. You wonder why? Optimal is exactly what you think it is. A ground up 0 bloatware, 0 telemetry, 100% easily tweakable privacy and performance settings from a single screen with 0 AI features, 0 Edge and 0 games. Imagine getting your hands on this OS and then running your favorite programs on it. It is so minimal that you literally have to install notepad on it if you want to or you can always install notepad++. Dear employees and managers of Microsoft reading this comment, can you greenlight something of this caliber? like for once?

▲

jwitthuhn an hour ago | parent | next [-]

You are describing Windows 11 LTSC which is a product that exists because Microsoft knows people want to turn this crap off.

It is of course only available in volume licensing to keep it away from normal users. Only businesses get to control their computers.

	▲	testartr 20 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		which shows that only businesses care about that stuff. normal people don't give a fuck, they actually like the things HN bitches about - online account, data storage and services

▲

frfl 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

You're just describing a Linux distribution[1]. With the added benefit of being 0x the price.

[1]: Assuming you're not married to some Windows only software that you can't get working using Proton/Wine, or don't want to run a Windows VM.

▲

vivzkestrel 2 hours ago | parent [-]

primary use case: gaming. needs to support everything from 90s to cutting edge modern games without hiccups

	▲	tapoxi an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		https://bazzite.gg/ Should work out of the box, no configuration needed. The only caveat is games with kernel based anti-cheat, but I don't play many of those. Arc Raiders works just fine, for example.
	▲	frfl an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Well, guess you're married to Windows if those are your requirements. Proton runs most games these days[1] (but not all). Apparently older Windows app/games run better on Proton/Wine than Windows (better citation needed) [2]. [1]: https://www.protondb.com/explore [2]: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/comments/1kjib0y/is_th...

▲

mal10c 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Honestly, if it ran Affinity photo and SilverFast, I'd be happy to pay that. Same goes for Linux, whatever can run those!