A developer known as NTDEV, famous for the Tiny11 project, has taken his Windows 11 customization efforts even further with the introduction of Nano11. This new assembly of Windows 11 occupies only 2.8 GB on the disk, with the installation image weighing 2.2 GB. In comparison, the standard Windows 11 requires significantly more space.
Building upon the same principles as Tiny11 Core, Nano11 aims to strip away all unnecessary components, leaving only what is essential for the system to boot and display the desktop. While Tiny11 retained some functions, Nano11 goes even further by removing Windows Update, built-in services, Defender antivirus, and various other components such as Teams, Copilot, and new Outlook, as well as smaller applications like news and weather. The result is a minimal shell suitable only for testing or running on virtual machines.
The developer emphasizes that Nano11 is not intended to be used as a fully functional operating system. It does not support the addition of new languages, drivers, or features, nor does it receive updates or allow for the restoration of removed modules. Essentially, Nano11 serves as a static environment primarily for experimentation, development, or built-in solutions. NTDEV explicitly states that “Nano11 is not intended for everyday use.”
What sets this experiment apart is its demonstration of the unnecessary bulk present in modern Windows systems. By showcasing that Windows 11 can function in a minimal form, albeit without certain familiar services, NTDEV’s project sheds light on the size optimizations that Microsoft could potentially implement. Additionally, NTDEV has updated the Tiny11 project to support the Windows 11 25H2 build and has implemented LZX compression to further reduce image sizes, albeit at the cost of higher RAM usage and processing time.
Despite its limitations, Nano11 stands as a compelling example of how much trimmer Windows systems could be, operating with a streamlined set of components rather than the full suite deemed “mandatory” by the company. While Nano11 may not be suitable for general user use, it serves as a valuable laboratory experiment highlighting the potential for more compact and efficient Windows operating systems.