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I'm terrified to use any of these Windows debloaters or do anything that gets me too far away from the default intended way of how Microsoft wants a Windows install to be because it's always just a matter of time before an update breaks things or you get impossible to diagnose behaviour since you disabled something and a new "feature" was written expecting that something to be there.

Microsoft can barely make Windows function when you're using it as intended. I don't expect them to make it work after I messed with their semi-functioning mess.



I am using Tiny10 for a debloated Win10 on my old PC last few years, and I faced no issues. Microsoft Office, Windows Updates, etc., all worked well. Of course, it is a sandboxed PC with VPN and good antimalware (Bit defender and MBAM) to protect it, as Microsoft has almost stopped giving Win10 updates (there's a workaround for an extension, but it may not be continued, as M$ wants everyone to migrate to crappy adware Win11).

I had to reinstall Win11 on a newer PC, so I used Tiny11 for a debloated Windows installation, and it is working fine with the licensed Microsoft apps I use (Microsoft Office, MS Project, etc.) and other programs (game stores (Steam, GoG, Epic, etc.), video editing tools, programming tools, etc.

But I don't really like Win11 as I had to do hosts blocking to block ads on it, and everything Win11 does feels a bit more clunky compared to Win10. I even had to use a Start Menu replacer app, as M$ enshittified/nerfed the Start Menu for Win11.

As you rightly pointed out, these debloaters can be unsafe (if they are not open-source, so they are not validated for security issues and bugs; thankfully Winslop is open-source) and can cause Windows to misbehave. But I think such a debloater would be good for a dual OS setup (Linux and Windows).

In 2026, I think I'll have to throw out Windows out the proverbial virtual window, and switch over to Linux on all my home PCs. I am running out of my patience with M$'s enshittification and nasty ads.




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