Tiny11 hands-on: How much lighter is Windows 11 without the extra bloat?

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As great as Windows 11 is, there are plenty of things one can complain about. The overload of preinstalled apps, the intrusive permissions granted to Windows to access user data and telemetry, and generally unwanted features are some of the most common points of contention. Plenty of tools exist to help you remove bloat from Windows 11, but Tiny11 is an especially interesting one because it claims to clean your Windows 11 install right from the start by modifying the ISO.

Tiny11 is available as an ISO based on the different versions of Windows, and it's already been updated for version 24H2. There's also Tiny11 Builder, a script that lets you apply these changes to your own Windows 11 ISO, and it works with any version of Windows 11. The script works with any version of Windows, and in addition to the standard Tiny11 image, it can also create an even smaller Tiny11 Core image, which we'll talk about a bit more later.

The setup

To compare Tiny11 to Windows 11, I created fresh installs of both Windows 11 version 23H2 and Tiny11 2311, which is based on that same release, on different partitions of an Omen 16 laptop, both the partitions of the same size (approximately 100GB).

The setup process was the same for both, using pre-created ISOs and creating bootable USB media with Rufus, with any modifiers to system requirements disabled. While setting up the operating system for the first time, we opted to use an offline account for Tiny11, which gives us that option, while Windows 11 normally does not. Otherwise, the two operating systems were set up similarly.

How much smaller is Tiny11?

It's much lighter than Windows 11

Right off the bat, the difference in size between Tiny11 and the standard Windows 11 version it's based on is nothing to scoff at. The Windows 11 version 23H2 ISO comes in at 6.34GB, while Tiny11 stays at a mere 3.52GB. That's a huge difference already.



I recently did a similar comparison with Windows 11 version 24H2 and the difference is a bit smaller. The full ISO from Microsoft's download page comes in at 5.82GB, while the Tiny11 24H2 ISO is 3.55GB.

Of course, the real comparison is the size of the installation itself, and that's even more impressive. To measure how much space is taken up by the OS, I first installed both operating systems, but I then allowed them to use Windows Update to install updates and drivers, and installed any updates for pre-installed apps (more on that in a bit). This was because the laptop had many missing features like Wi-Fi or touchpad functionality with the stock drivers included in the ISO files. So this isn't the raw size of the OS alone, but rather what you'd need for the hardware to properly function. It may vary depending on your device, but the point is to draw a comparison.

After installing the latest updates and cleaning the leftover files using Storage sense, I looked at how much space was being used on the 100GB partition. The standard Windows 11 installation was using roughly 36.3GB. Before installing any of the updates, Tiny11 used a mere 17.9GB, but after installing drivers, Windows updates, and the latest versions of built-in apps, it went up to 29GB. I merely looked at the Tiny11 size before updates out of curiosity, since I figured installing updates would make a big difference.



That's a big increase from the completely clean installation, but it's still significantly smaller than Windows 11 proper. For a device with low storage capacity, like the 64GB of eMMC storage like Microsoft's own Surface Go 3, that kind of difference is very big. Those gigabytes could store thousands of photos, music, or plenty of videos. It's no joke, and it makes Tiny11 very tempting if you have one of these lower-end devices. Of course, that impact is significantly lessened once you install the latest updates, but it's still a noticeable chunk of storage.

It's worth mentioning that Tiny11 is stripped of almost every pre-installed Microsoft app, which means that getting updates from the Microsoft Store had little impact on the overall storage, while those app updates added quite a bit to the standard Windows 11 install.

But what about performance?

Does it make a difference?

Naturally, a proper comparison here has to look at the differences that this makes in terms of performance. First, I wanted to see how much of the memory and CPU is used when the computer is in a relatively idle state on these two operating systems. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the differences here aren't huge. Tiny11 seems to have slightly lower RAM usage and CPU usage is also more consistently lower.



It's worth mentioning that RAM usage tends to scale if there's more memory available, but on the same hardware, the difference is fairly small. SSD usage also appears to be a little more contained, based on the Task Manager diagram.

But this is only a very superficial look at performance. What do benchmarks have to say about Tiny11? Well, the story isn't all too different here. Running benchmarks like Geekbench, Cinebench 2024, and PCMark 10 shows relatively minor differences between the two versions, enough for this to be considered within the margin of error.



Interestingly enough, the results on Cinebench were reversed from the other two, but it might just have been an odd run. Either way, the biggest benefits here will come from the storage you save rather than performance, at least on a modern PC.

What's the catch?

Tiny11 is missing some things, but it works well

The point of Tiny11 is to be a fully usable version of Windows 11, and technically, it kind of is. Once you have all the drivers, Tiny11 looks and feels just like Windows 11, but the big thing is many of the apps are missing. Out of the box, before any updates, Tiny11 only has two items pinned to the Start menu, and it includes the following apps in the All Apps list:

• Calculator

• Clock

• File Explorer (which is more of a system component)

• Microsoft Store

• Notepad

• Paint

• Settings (again, a system component)

• Snipping Tool

• Terminal

• Windows Backup

• Windows Security







Otherwise, it's just a few system components that would have to be here. The missing apps can be installed through the Microsoft Store, so you can restore the features you need. Interestingly, even Edge is missing, so you don't have a web browser out of the box. Unfortunately, if you do install it, you won't be able to uninstall it normally, which is a bummer. But at least you can easily bypass Microsoft's browser and just download your favorite from the Microsoft Store. Naturally, not having Edge can affect certain features, like the Widgets board and its web-based content, but that's something a lot of people don't need.

Notably, after installing the latest updates, a lot of pinned apps do appear on the Start menu just like on Windows 11 proper, but these apps still aren't installed on your system. They're just links to download those apps from the store, so they're not taking up a ton of space. Most things about Windows itself still function, and even Copilot is supposedly available (though it didn't show up on my machine for some reason).



Tiny11 doesn't make a ton of sacrifices in terms of functionality. Some previous releases were missing a lot more apps, and cumulative updates wouldn't work, but with Tiny11 2311, you can install the latest cumulative updates, too. This might contribute to an overall larger OS, but it's probably more important to keep your PC secure. And you're still saving a few gigabytes worth of space on your drive.

Of course, if you don't want to connect to the internet and prefer ignoring updates, you might be able to save a bit more space, but I wanted to paint a more realistic picture for the majority of users. You will most likely connect to the internet and have to install updates and drivers, so you need to be ready for the extra storage that will take. Regardless, there are savings to be had in terms of storage, and if by any chance you don't need the internet, that's even more true.

Tiny11 Core

Tiny11 Core is a more recent version of Tiny11 that goes even further in removing Windows components you may not need. It removes the Windows Component Store, meaning you can't add features or languages to Windows, plus it can't receive updates, and even Windows Defender is disabled out of the box. As a result, this version of Tiny11 isn't meant to be used on real computers.

Since you wouldn't want to use it on real hardware, we didn't try any performance tests, but in terms of size, the Tiny11 Core ISO comes in at just 2.65GB, a more than 50% reduction compared to the 6.34GB of the original Windows 11 ISO it's based on. Even compared to the standard Tiny11, it shaves off almost a full gigabyte.



After installation, Tiny11 Core takes up a mere 11.1GB, which is over 6GB less than even Tiny11 itself before any updates. Since Tiny11 Core won't receive any updates itself, that size really won't increase very much, aside from updates to Windows components like the Microsoft Store and Windows Terminal.



Of course, if you do install this on real hardware, you also have to add the size of drivers, which will probably be the biggest difference in size. But you really aren't meant to use this on real hardware, and even the creator of the project says that. So what is the point?

Well, say you want to set up a VM for testing some kind of software and you want it to be as small as possible. With Tiny11 Core, you can significantly speed up setting up your PC, since the files are generally smaller and everything goes by a bit faster. Plus, you don't have to go online with it, so all the Microsoft account setup process is skipped and the initial setup is much faster. This is meant for those scenarios, where the machine itself is a throwaway. It's important to remember this since you can't add the missing features to Tiny11 Core, since the Windows Component Store is removed.

Should you use Tiny11 instead of Windows 11?

Probably not

With all the clear benefits of Tiny11 in terms of saving space on your hard drive and removing potentially unwanted features, you may be tempted to think it makes no sense to keep using the full version of Windows 11 when you can get Tiny11 instead. However, I would still advise against it.

Modifying an ISO image isn't the safest method for reducing bloatware on Windows 11 and making the OS lighter. While the developer of Tiny11 seems genuine modified ISOs can often pose major security risks, plus it's not entirely clear that Microsoft won't block these PCs from getting updates in the future.

Perhaps more importantly, installing an operating system again from scratch is just a hassle, especially if you've already been using your PC for a while. You'll need to back up your data and move it around to get back to where you were before, so it's not something most people can do on a whim. Tiny11 is more interesting as a thought experiment, a test to see how far we can cut back on Windows 11's features while still maintaining a functional computer.

If you're looking to remove some of the junk included in Windows 11, there are a few solutions out there in the form of PowerShell scripts or apps. A great choice is Win11Debloat, a script that lets you customize your Windows 11 install with a few options of your choosing. It doesn't require you to start fresh, so it's a much easier setup, and it still helps a lot. Plus, if certain features are enabled or brought back, you can simply run the script again to clean things up.

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