Windows 10 or Windows 11? Post here your safe OS build

Donux

Here's how Microsoft explains it.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/whats-new/ltsc/overview

I think it "updates" but only security patches. I'm not sure where it was downloaded from but I can ask my IT group.

I was able to use Windows 10 until one of the May updates installed on my computer. Even if I uninstalled the update I couldn't get it to go back to being usable because part of the update didn't seem to be able to be uninstalled. (couldn't uninstall the "Servicing Stack" that came with the update so I assume that caused the issue.)

So we started with a fresh "old" computer (Lenovo T450s) and it has been working with this LTSC version.

[moderator note: Please do not link to Windows ISO's on the forum]

Donux Windows LTSC doesn't get automatic feature updates and only receives small security updates. For example, if you install IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021 which is based on the 21H2 feature update, you're stuck with 21H2 for all 10 years of support until 2032.

Donux

You receive updates but no gimmicky stuff because this is an edition for enterprises.

And: 21H2 is the newest LTSC version of Win 10. So there is no other build to update to.

(In other words: There is no LTSC version of 22H2, which is the newest, "normal" Win 10 build.)

And, of course, there is no 24H2 of Win 10, anyway.

And yes, I can confirm that 21H2 LTSC runs perfectly with all software: I have installed Office 2021, Adobe Photoshop, Bridge and Indesign and tons of other programs. It's not a "castrated" windows. Only those superfluous "apps" are missing.

And for my very sensitive eyes it's heaven.

Staycalmsyndrome I will be giving it a go, if I will find official hashes from Microsoft for these ISO files. Otherwise it is way too risky.

Update:

This is from Microsoft, https://download.microsoft.com/download/c/1/1/c11d2ca5-967c-45c0-bc7d-2d9ca3f1fe07/Windows10Enterprise22H2HashValues.pdf

All good. At least would be able to detect any tampering on those ISO files.

Attention Everyone: Under no circumstances download those ISO files, as sha256 hashes do not match those provided by official Microsoft sources. I have tried suggested file en-us_windows_10_iot_enterprise_ltsc_2021_x64_dvd_257ad90f.iso and it does not match any of these hashes. Nor there are references to vendor websites for vendor specific ISOs. This means probably there is a spyware inside or something else. But there is zero guarantee these files are free from spyware.

These are official hashes from Microsoft website:

Donux

Well yes, but actually no. The evaluation iso is not the full version. You can use it for up to 360 days(90 days+3 reactivations). You can't activate it and continue using it forever. You also can't upgrade it to the full version, you need to reinstall windows.

Microsoft provides full versions of Windows LTSC on MVS, M365 Admin Center and OEM Portal but for them, you need to pay a high subscription fee. There is no way Microsoft will give out hashes of the actual full versions of LTSC builds to the public unless you're a bussiness/enterprise entity and bought at least five copies of it.

What this means is that you have to trust reputable forums like MyDigitalLife for hashes. The method is illustrated here.

If anyone would need it, this is as close as possible to official checksums,
https://thewindowsupdate.com/2021/05/21/windows-10-21h1-may-2021-iso-file-checksums/

But be careful with those IoT versions. I see a lot of satelite websites referecing hash values, but many of them very questionable. Some claim to be american websites, but actually registred through Russian registers (no offence to any Russians on this forum, it just the way it is right now). Others throw reddit links to forums with presumable hash values on microsoft servers, and later have comments that it does not work, so they share in the comments hash values, luring people to belief that those are legit. If you do not take hash values directly from microsoft servers, you are risking. And there is a lot of potential social engineering going on. And having these enterprise copies installed within organisastions, with planted malware, is ideal later for various broad scale operations.

https://thewindowsupdate.com/2021/05/21/windows-10-21h1-may-2021-iso-file-checksums/ Is also big risk, as usually social engineering to build trust can take decades.

simplex CPU is Ryzen 9 5950x, MB for it is Asus Crosshair VIII Hero Wifi, graphic is Asus RTX 3080 OC (very first gen.), monitor is an old Asus VG278HE

Group policy ist set to stay on 21H2 (via registry), so Windows Update goes no further than that.

I have now the same Win 10 21H2 installed on my small HP Elitebook 840G3 and all the drivers are up to date (in contrast to nvidia driver 528.02) and all still feels safe after a week of use.

Win is then this version:

Edit: second monitor is an old Samsung T220 and I run both monitors over Delock-61766 DP to VGA adapters.