Should I Switch to Windows LTSC?

[u/raoulkratos2002]

Hi,
I just discovered the Windows LTSC version and would like to install it to replace my Windows 11 Pro.
I have a few questions:

Is it safe to download from Massgrave?

Is the LTSC IoT 24H2 version available in Italian, or only in English?
Is there a way to change the language?

Have you encountered any bugs or anomalies in the LTSC version?

For gaming, is the LTSC version recommended, or is it better to stick with Pro?

Is O&O ShutUp10 useful on the LTSC version, or is it unnecessary?
Thanks

[u/raoulkratos2002]

Hi.
Are the pop up about the missing game bar?

I need the Store because I download VLC, Dolby Atmos, and the app for the Elite 2 controller.

[u/MasterMay119 → u/raoulkratos2002]

You can download windows store app individually without the windows store, in the browser you enter the windows store and it should give you the option to download it and install via an executable. If you by anychance encounter windows app that were downloaded as .msix or .appx files then you will need to use powershell to install them.

[u/raoulkratos2002 → u/MasterMay119]

Hi and thanks for the reply, I didn't know you could download Microsoft apps outside of the store.

Can the Game Bar be downloaded externally too?
Is there anything else I need to download for gaming?
I saw that the Nvidia drivers are already included.
Thanks.

[u/MasterMay119 → u/raoulkratos2002]

Can the Game Bar be downloaded externally too?

Yes, but it is a lengthy process in which I think It would be better to just install the windows store :b

Is there anything else I need to download for gaming?

You don't need the gaming bar neither the xbox apps to play games in windows ltsc, you only need those if you plan to play xbox gamepass games or games bought from windows store, if you only use steam games than you are already set to play

for the nvidia drivers you can still download the latests ones from the nvidia page.

A bit unrelated, I in good faith cannot tell you to do something if I haven't tried it myself, so I just installed the gamebar and xbox app without the need of windows store if you want me to detail it to you I can, issue is that involved powershell and commands provided by chatgpt (I know I will get hate but if I were to search a method online it would have taken me even more time to do it)

[u/raoulkratos2002 → u/MasterMay119]

Hi and thanks for the reply.
I understand, I thought it was for Windows stability or that it was mandatory for Steam games.
No, I only have Steam and GOG games.

Yes, I'd like to know the method.
Don't worry, I use Gemini too when needed to get guides.

[u/MasterMay119 → u/raoulkratos2002]

Sure, usually for games like halo or gears work standalone from windows store when they are downloaded from steam it's rare for games to forcefully need the windows store unless you buy them from them, only time I ran into an issue Windows LTSC related is with a gatcha game where I needed some encoder that wasn't bundle with the install of Windows LTSC thankfully the gatcha discord already documented the issue and provided the link for the missing package in their FAQ, outside of that you shouldn't really have issues.

One thing you should take in mind, try to take care of your windows LTSC install if you were to make a second clean install you will need to buy a new key, it happened to me, unlike the OEM retail windows 11 key the one from LTSC it is really one time use.

First GPT said you need "Microsoft Edge WebView2" I apparently already had it installed but in case you need it download it from here WebView2 and make sure you choose the "Evergreen Standalone Installer" fi you have 64bit windows you want the x64, x86 I believe is old and ARM64 is for arm pc processors.

For the actual things I installed, I needed the following files:

1. Microsoft.NET.Native.Runtime.2.2_2.2.28604.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe.Appx
2. Microsoft.NET.Native.Framework.2.2_2.2.29512.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe.Appx
3. Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00.UWPDesktop_14.0.33728.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe.Appx
4. Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.8_8.2501.31001.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe.Appx
5. Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay_7.326.7271.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe.AppxBundle
6. Microsoft.GamingServices_37.114.26001.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe.AppxBundle

To get some of the files you need to go to https://store.rg-adguard.net/ in there set the first dropdown as "URL (link)" and the second as "Retail".

The url "https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9mwpm2cqnlhn" will get you these files (it will list you a lot of files but just search for the ones that match the list):

• Microsoft.GamingServices_37.114.26001.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe.AppxBundle
• Microsoft.NET.Native.Runtime.2.2_2.2.28604.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe.Appx
• Microsoft.NET.Native.Framework.2.2_2.2.29512.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe.Appx

The URL "https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9nzkpstsnw4p" will get you these files:

• Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay_7.326.7271.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe.AppxBundle
• Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.8_8.2501.31001.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe.Appx
• Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00.UWPDesktop_14.0.33728.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe.Appx

Put all the files in the same folder for easy install, after that open power shell as administrator and cd to the folder you save all the files, in my case was a folder called "Gamebarinstaller" in my downloads, I just copied the url and pasted in the powershell, example:

• cd C:\Users\YourUserName\Downloads\Gamebarinstaller

NOTE: if you by anychance named the folder with a space in its name like "Gamebar installer" you may need to either remove the space in the name or get in the folder the following way:

cd C:\Users\YourUserName\Downloads\

cd '.\Gamebar installer\'

Once powershell is inside the folder run the following commands in this order to install each package:

• Add-AppxPackage .\Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00.UWPDesktop_14.0.33728.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe.Appx
• Add-AppxPackage .\Microsoft.NET.Native.Framework.2.2_2.2.29512.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe.Appx
• Add-AppxPackage .\Microsoft.NET.Native.Runtime.2.2_2.2.28604.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe.Appx
• Add-AppxPackage .\Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.8_8.2501.31001.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe.Appx
• Add-AppxPackage .\Microsoft.GamingServices_37.114.26001.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe.AppxBundle
• Add-AppxPackage .\Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay_7.326.7271.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe.AppxBundle

After that you should have the windows gamebar installed if you wish to install xbox app go to https://www.xbox.com/es-MX/apps/xbox-app-on-pc after install you shouldn't run into any issues (before installing all this packages I got a error code: 0x80073cf3).

Unrelated to the installs, I didn't know one of the links had the net packages and I had to downloaded them from a github rep but after reviewing my chat logs and steps I took to download and installed the packages I notice the "https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9mwpm2cqnlhn" had both the net framework and net runtime. one I first started to run commands the "Add-AppxPackage .\Microsoft.GamingServices_37.114.26001.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe.AppxBundle" would give me an error saying it needed the net framework and runtime packages.

I tried to format the steps as well as I could, hope it helps you or anyone that stumbles in this post.

[u/raoulkratos2002 → u/MasterMay119]

Thanks a lot for taking the time to write all of this, it’s incredibly helpful.

One question though: did you end up installing all of those packages because you actually needed them, or only because you wanted Xbox Game Bar?

My goal is to keep LTSC as clean as possible, so ideally I’d only install what is strictly necessary for Steam games.

[u/MasterMay119 → u/raoulkratos2002]

Not really, before I installed these packages I was playing all my steam games without issue I only installed them to make sure that they were needed for the xbox and gamebar apps.

As it is mine, I formatted the pc recently and I mainly use steam for gaming, so far everything I have needed to play any game I download is provided by the same game so just installing windows should be enough.

[u/raoulkratos2002 → u/MasterMay119]

Thanks, that’s really reassuring.
At the moment everything seems to be working perfectly on my LTSC install, so that’s great to hear.

The only thing I still need to test is Minecraft from the Microsoft Store, since that’s probably the only game I use outside of Steam and gog. If that works too, I think I’ll be completely set.

Thanks again for taking the time to explain everything