Have you ever had that experience? Starting up your computer feels like waiting for instant noodles, with a bunch of programs popping up in the background, and even playing League of Legends is as laggy as showing PowerPoint. But at the beginning of this year, a system called Win11 X-Lite 26H1 suddenly became popular on forums, with over 3 million downloads in seven days — all shared by gamers — this thing can make old machines fly.
The story goes like this: a third-party team called NTDEV doesn't make full systems or sell hardware, but instead decided to "operate" on Windows 11. They felt the current system was too bloated, installing a lot of unnecessary things after installation, such as Cortana, Microsoft Store, news push, all stuffed in, with over 150 background processes at startup, consuming three to four G of memory, stealing half of the resources before even starting a game.
So they just deleted everything down to the core, removing 45 non-core components, eliminating telemetry, automatic indexing, Windows Ink, and even bypassing the mandatory requirement for TPM security chips. The result? After installation, the number of background processes dropped to around 50-60, with the lowest idle memory reaching 1.1G, and the SSD system drive only requiring 30GB, saving more than 20GB compared to the original version — enough to install half of Genshin Impact.
Even more impressive was the performance. Someone tested with an AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and a GTX 1660, achieving a frame rate increase from 105 to 142 in League of Legends at 1080P high settings, a 35% improvement. Another user used an older i5-8250U machine with 4GB of RAM, which previously dropped to 30fps while playing LOLO, but after switching to this system, it stabilized at 60fps, and even opening multiple web pages didn't crash. He himself said, "It's like changing the computer."
It also has a smart scheduling mechanism. As soon as it detects a game launch, it immediately maximizes CPU and memory priority, pausing Windows Update and OneDrive synchronization, allocating all computing power to the game. In real tests, Cyberpunk 2077 ran at an average of 103fps in 4K quality, with significantly less stuttering; mainstream configurations running Black Myth: Wukong maintained frame fluctuations within 5fps per hour, and temperatures dropped by 9°C, reducing cooling pressure considerably.
The key point is that it offers three versions. Most people use the Optimum version, which retains basic office functions, allowing both gaming and work without issues, and runs smoothly on 8GB of RAM or more. The Micro version is for old machines, capable of running with as little as 800MB of memory, allowing even a ten-year-old ThinkPad to run smoothly while browsing the web and playing games. The Ultralight version is extreme, almost just a shell, suitable for pure gaming machines or virtual machines, but common software may not run properly, so regular users should avoid trying it blindly.
Installation is simpler than expected. No need for internet access or a Microsoft account, a local account can be set up in three minutes. However, you need to download drivers in advance, and it's best to get graphics card drivers directly from NVIDIA or AMD's official website, avoiding using third-party tools. For creating a USB drive, Rufus is recommended, and checking the "Quick Boot" option improves efficiency. If you want dual-boot, just arrange the partitions properly.
After installation, you can further optimize it. Press Win+R to open the Services Manager, disable SysMain, since it's not needed for SSDs, saving some memory; then set visual effects to "Best Performance," turning off all animations; in Task Manager, remove startup items like Adobe Assistant and OneDrive; finally, go to Power Options and enable "Fast Startup" to improve boot speed by another 30%.
Certainly, not everyone can just jump in blindly. Enterprise users should skip it, as it lacks security components, and patches must be manually updated, with no support if problems arise. Novice users should also proceed with caution, as encountering a blue screen or driver conflicts requires searching community resources. If you really need to use the Microsoft Store, BitLocker encryption, or Xbox features, it won't work, as these have all been trimmed.
But it indeed brings another possibility: when upgrading hardware becomes increasingly expensive, maybe we should look back — are our old devices really beyond help? This system isn't perfect, lacks official updates, and carries potential risks, but it revived a five-year-old laptop and allowed many players to first experience what "system-level improvements" mean.
Now, there are still people asking where to get a genuine image, whether to check the hash value, fearing they might download a pirated version. Some even started video tutorials, guiding step-by-step how to make a bootable drive, check hardware compatibility. Right? Sometimes, changing the fate of a computer might just depend on one system.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/7592628054367732262/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.