5 ms·

If they shipped a version of Windows sporting the Windows-11 kernel, so running all the recent software, but with Windows 2000 UI for a thousand dollars I would

If they shipped a version of Windows sporting the Windows-11 kernel, so running all the recent software, but with Windows 2000 UI for a thousand dollars I would buy it immediately.

anarazel 5y ago
Server isn't too far off...
- dend 5y ago
  That's true, but then you start running into weird compatibility issues, where a specific game won't work because an Xbox Live component is not installed or DirectX SDK is not at the right version (and you can't install the right version because it only works on the consumer OS).
- ComputerGuru 5y ago
  Server 2012 (or was it 2008?) was absolutely terrible in that was absolutely Windows 8-ified with a forced full-screen metro start menu "experience," but that was fortunately rectified in the next release (Server 2016, I'm pretty sure).
MarkSweep 5y ago
It’s not quite Windows 2000, but the LTSC edition has much of the bullshit stripped out. It does not support the store therefore Candy Crush is not installed by default. And I don’t think it’s quite $1000, if you can figure out how to buy it.
- elorant 5y ago
  It's available in volume licensing, with a 5 license as minimal order.
  - kingcharles 5y ago
    Can also get it free with a Visual Studio subscription, that's where I got mine.
    - hnthrowaway0315 5y ago
      Just checked VS subscription page and didn't find it, maybe it's kinda hidden? I'm chatting with a sales representative regarding this.
      - kingcharles 5y ago
        The Visual Studio web site is impossible to decode. I think this is the page: https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/subscriptions/#software-and-downloads?cat=visual-studio-enterprise-subscription-with-github-enterprise https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/subscriptions/#software-a... Basically they give you every version of Windows so you can test your code. So 10 LTSC is in there. I run it in my VMs because it uses so little memory and CPU compared to the regular one. I don't know which flavor of subscription you need to get it. I got my sub free as an MVP.
        hnthrowaway0315 5y ago
        Thanks!
        hnthrowaway0315 5y ago
        Snooped around and looks like the only option is to purchase VS Enterprise + Github Enterprise (professional versions don't work). This is definitely going to be pricy. I guess if my company has enterprise license I might be able to take advantage of that...
        kingcharles 5y ago
        I just logged in to check mine sub and it does say Visual Studio Enterprise :(
- stuartd 5y ago
  Been running Windows Server as my desktop dev environment since NT4. Back then it was so the dev environment was the same as the server environment, that’s pretty much fixed now so it’s just to avoid all this horrible store nonsense. Can’t upgrade from 2019 as I don’t have a TPM so no WSL2 or new terminal but happy to accept that trade off. And shout out to win2k server which was awesome!
- poglet 5y ago
  Windows 10 LTSE was under $20 on ebay, unsure of the legality of this.
  - justsomehnguy 5y ago
    > unsure of the legality of this. I always have a laugh when I see this logic. A product costing more than $200 and not available in the consumer market without some hoops to jump? Of course someone would resell it for $20 (including their profit) totally legally.
- GekkePrutser 5y ago
  The latest LTSC actually doesn't have as much stripped out anymore. Telemetry choices are the same now and also MS accounts are there. I was really disappointed when I tried it.
  - at_a_remove 5y ago
    Hold up. Windows 11 LTSC forces you to use Microsoft accounts, you can't go local at all? Not doubting, just need clarification.
    - GekkePrutser 5y ago
      No it doesn't force you, just like regular Win 10 Pro. But it does have the option and also the telemetry choice is now 'basic' or 'everything'. LTSC is often hailed as the solution for privacy but when I last tried it it was just regular Win10 with a bit less bloatware (and the long term support of course). Didn't seem very different from Win10 on the privacy side at all. One thing I forgot to check is if you can choose to delay updates to whenever you want. Obviously this is a big miss in Win10 and as LTSC is meant for mission critical systems I assume this is possible. I don't recall which version it was exactly, but it was the latest I could get about a year ago when I tried. One of our colleagues in industrial automation got me a VM in their lab to try it out.
  - garaetjjte 5y ago
    I think it allows you to disable a lot of crap in gpedit.
userbinator 5y ago
I haven't looked at the scene recently but in the past I've seen various projects on somewhat-underground (and often non-English) forums where they try to do similar things, mixing different versions of kernel and userland. There is this more recent attempt, Win10 explorer.exe with Win11 kernel: https://www.reddit.com/r/windows/comments/o6ytuw/so_i_replaced_the_windows_11s_explorerexe_with/ https://www.reddit.com/r/windows/comments/o6ytuw/so_i_replac...
Sakos 5y ago
That's the dream.
wildrhythms 5y ago
Not Windows, but you might get a kick out of the Serenity OS project: http://serenityos.org/ http://serenityos.org/
judge2020 5y ago
It would take probably another $100M in engineering pay to do this, so unless there are 100k other people willing to pay $1,000 for this, you're short on how much you need to pay to actually get this done.
wolpoli 5y ago
The operating system would look consistent, but we would still have to deal with all the applications that decided they need to draw their own UI, including everything from Microsoft Office to all the web browsers to all the electrons apps. It's too late for the Windows ecosystem.
51Cards 5y ago
Windows 7 for me but yes, similar sentiment.

If they shipped a version of Windows sporting the Windows-11 kernel, so running all the recent software, but with Windows 2000 UI for a thousand dollars I would buy it immediately.

anarazel 5y ago

Server isn't too far off...

dend 5y ago
That's true, but then you start running into weird compatibility issues, where a specific game won't work because an Xbox Live component is not installed or DirectX SDK is not at the right version (and you can't install the right version because it only works on the consumer OS).
ComputerGuru 5y ago
Server 2012 (or was it 2008?) was absolutely terrible in that was absolutely Windows 8-ified with a forced full-screen metro start menu "experience," but that was fortunately rectified in the next release (Server 2016, I'm pretty sure).

MarkSweep 5y ago

It’s not quite Windows 2000, but the LTSC edition has much of the bullshit stripped out. It does not support the store therefore Candy Crush is not installed by default. And I don’t think it’s quite $1000, if you can figure out how to buy it.

elorant 5y ago
It's available in volume licensing, with a 5 license as minimal order.
- kingcharles 5y ago
  Can also get it free with a Visual Studio subscription, that's where I got mine.
  - hnthrowaway0315 5y ago
    Just checked VS subscription page and didn't find it, maybe it's kinda hidden? I'm chatting with a sales representative regarding this.
    - kingcharles 5y ago
      The Visual Studio web site is impossible to decode. I think this is the page: https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/subscriptions/#software-and-downloads?cat=visual-studio-enterprise-subscription-with-github-enterprise https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/subscriptions/#software-a... Basically they give you every version of Windows so you can test your code. So 10 LTSC is in there. I run it in my VMs because it uses so little memory and CPU compared to the regular one. I don't know which flavor of subscription you need to get it. I got my sub free as an MVP.
      - hnthrowaway0315 5y ago
        Thanks!
      - hnthrowaway0315 5y ago
        Snooped around and looks like the only option is to purchase VS Enterprise + Github Enterprise (professional versions don't work). This is definitely going to be pricy. I guess if my company has enterprise license I might be able to take advantage of that...
        kingcharles 5y ago
        I just logged in to check mine sub and it does say Visual Studio Enterprise :(
stuartd 5y ago
Been running Windows Server as my desktop dev environment since NT4. Back then it was so the dev environment was the same as the server environment, that’s pretty much fixed now so it’s just to avoid all this horrible store nonsense. Can’t upgrade from 2019 as I don’t have a TPM so no WSL2 or new terminal but happy to accept that trade off. And shout out to win2k server which was awesome!
poglet 5y ago
Windows 10 LTSE was under $20 on ebay, unsure of the legality of this.
- justsomehnguy 5y ago
  > unsure of the legality of this. I always have a laugh when I see this logic. A product costing more than $200 and not available in the consumer market without some hoops to jump? Of course someone would resell it for $20 (including their profit) totally legally.
GekkePrutser 5y ago
The latest LTSC actually doesn't have as much stripped out anymore. Telemetry choices are the same now and also MS accounts are there. I was really disappointed when I tried it.
- at_a_remove 5y ago
  Hold up. Windows 11 LTSC forces you to use Microsoft accounts, you can't go local at all? Not doubting, just need clarification.
  - GekkePrutser 5y ago
    No it doesn't force you, just like regular Win 10 Pro. But it does have the option and also the telemetry choice is now 'basic' or 'everything'. LTSC is often hailed as the solution for privacy but when I last tried it it was just regular Win10 with a bit less bloatware (and the long term support of course). Didn't seem very different from Win10 on the privacy side at all. One thing I forgot to check is if you can choose to delay updates to whenever you want. Obviously this is a big miss in Win10 and as LTSC is meant for mission critical systems I assume this is possible. I don't recall which version it was exactly, but it was the latest I could get about a year ago when I tried. One of our colleagues in industrial automation got me a VM in their lab to try it out.
- garaetjjte 5y ago
  I think it allows you to disable a lot of crap in gpedit.

userbinator 5y ago

I haven't looked at the scene recently but in the past I've seen various projects on somewhat-underground (and often non-English) forums where they try to do similar things, mixing different versions of kernel and userland. There is this more recent attempt, Win10 explorer.exe with Win11 kernel: https://www.reddit.com/r/windows/comments/o6ytuw/so_i_replaced_the_windows_11s_explorerexe_with/ https://www.reddit.com/r/windows/comments/o6ytuw/so_i_replac...

Sakos 5y ago

That's the dream.

wildrhythms 5y ago

Not Windows, but you might get a kick out of the Serenity OS project: http://serenityos.org/ http://serenityos.org/

judge2020 5y ago

It would take probably another $100M in engineering pay to do this, so unless there are 100k other people willing to pay $1,000 for this, you're short on how much you need to pay to actually get this done.

wolpoli 5y ago

The operating system would look consistent, but we would still have to deal with all the applications that decided they need to draw their own UI, including everything from Microsoft Office to all the web browsers to all the electrons apps. It's too late for the Windows ecosystem.

51Cards 5y ago

Windows 7 for me but yes, similar sentiment.