Lightweight Windows 11 OS for Arm64 gets more compact — Tiny11 Core arrives with smaller footprint and emulation performance enhancements

News
By Christopher Harper
published

The stripped-down version of Tiny11, which is already a stripped-down Windows 11, gets an arm64 update after ten months.

A screenshot of Tiny11 Core running on an arm64 device from NTDev's Twitter page.
A screenshot of Tiny11 Core running on an arm64 device from NTDev's Twitter page. (Image credit: NTDev, maker of Tiny11)

The main version of Tiny11 is a streamlined version of Windows 11 that's shrunk to the size it can fit within a 4GB flash drive instead of 64GB drive space, but it's not the most streamlined version of Windows 11 there is. Instead, that's Tiny11 Core, which is meant to be used for testing purposes with its even lower footprint. It got an updated release from its creator, NTDev, on December 29th.

We've previously tested a version of Tiny11 for Raspberry Pi, but today, we have an up-to-date arm64 version of Tiny11 Core to discuss. Now, Tiny11 Core's arm64 version has been updated to Windows Version 23H2 with a majority of non-system-critical functions cut out, including many security and update functionality reductions. Remember, this is recommended as a quick testing OS, not a potential daily driver like the main version of Tiny11, which could be for an older PC that usually can't install Windows 11.

The Tiny11 Core for arm64 is still remarkable, especially since it could easily be put to work in low-power devices. The entire system image download is only 3.1GB on Archive.org, and a maximum-slim configuration of Tiny11 can run on just 176MB of RAM. Tiny11 can even run within the VRAM of an RTX 3050 Laptop GPU since NTDev is not short on sheer motivation.

You may still want to consider the main version of Tiny11 for arm64 (or x86), particularly if you'll manage sensitive information or run critical applications on the device in question. It's important to emphasize the "development-only" nature of Tiny11 Core since many vital features like Windows Update have been either stripped down or removed entirely.

At the same time, it's always nice to see the customary bloat associated with modern operating systems and software removed to provide a more streamlined, user-friendly (or hardware-friendly) experience. Considering Arm's recent stake in Raspberry Pi and general status in the mobile market against the up-and-coming RISC-V competition pushes like this, Meteor Lake iGPU improvements bode well for the future of low-power computing from any provider.

Christopher Harper
Freelance News Writer
2 Comments Comment from the forums
  • filip.anton
    is there any chance that any of Tiny versions to work on a lumia 735 Win Phone which I want to revive? I think it has 32 bits CPU but I don't know the installation process on a WP. I know only the image (ROM) approach.
    Reply
  • das_stig
    You have to wonder why Microsoft has not done this properly and just released a core WinXX with bare minimum network support and then just pulls done components as and when needed, then users/companies can create their own sleek WinXX ISO. I did hear that Windows 10 was supposed to be based on this idea, but when you look at the size of the install, it's too bloated.
    Reply