There’s a new version of Tiny10, a version of Windows 10 that strips out all the bloat, making it a lean, mean, multitasking machine (hopefully).
Neovin noticed that Tiny10 x64 is now available, alongside your existing Tiny10 x86 install (and of course Tiny11 – a similarly lightweight version of Windows 11).
After months of requests, tiny10 23H1 x64 is finally here and like tiny10 x86 and tiny11 it brings back a very important feature: the component store! This means you can now add new languages and features while keeping the image light and reliable. pic.twitter.com/mRLBPC2udRMay 31, 2023
What is the difference between x64 and x86? Well, the latter is the 32-bit Windows 10 while the previous and fresh version of Tiny10 is the 64-bit incarnation. This means it can run 64-bit software and is generally more efficient as well as more secure (remember though that your computer must have a 64-bit processor – which it should have unless it is Really old).
In short, the new x64 version is the one you want, unless your computer is unable to run it (since the CPU is not 64-bit).
As the developer points out, the key element here is the inclusion of the component store (also in the x86 version), thanks to which Tiny10 can receive Windows updates. This is of course necessary to keep the operating system secure.
Note that Tiny10 x64 is marked as 23H1 only because it was released now – in the first half of 2023 – and it does not refer to the version of Windows 10 it is based on (which is actually Windows 10 LTSC 21H2 build 19044.3031).
Analysis: one small step for Windows 10
Tiny10 was designed to be installed on an old computer, because thanks to its seriously streamlined and slimmed down nature, it will run fast enough even on quite old hardware. And as mentioned, this x64 version has advantages in terms of better performance and security over the previous Tiny10 x86 version.
You can run Tiny10 on a computer that only has 2GB of RAM and 16GB of disk space, that’s how frugal it is – and it’ll probably run fine with less system memory (maybe much less, as previous experiments have shown). Indeed, 1GB should be enough.
While Tiny10 is a useful option to get some extra life out of a sick potato computer, there are caveats to keep in mind. We cannot be sure of the exact contents of any modified Windows installation (ISO file), so if you download and install Tiny10, you do so at your own risk (download Here if you want to continue). That said, the developer has been around for a while and there are no complaints from users yet.
Plus, it’s still a Windows 10 install – just heavily tinkered and stripped – so you’ll still need a valid license key to run it (although a Windows 7 or 8 license should do the trick too).