Microsoft finally made a bloat-free version of Windows 11, but normal people aren't allowed to use it

Published Oct 21, 2026, 12:31 PM EDT Ever since he got his first smartphone, the legendary Nokia 6600, back in 2005, Goran became obsessed with technology. This obsession had only gotten worse after he received his first gaming PC a couple of months later. He fell in love with video games in the early '90s, shortly after embarking on his gaming journey with the Sega Master System II and SNES. Since then, he has built dozens of PCs, played thousands of games, and authored hundreds of articles about PC hardware, gaming hardware, and video games. He knows everything there is to know about the PC gaming and PC hardware space, and while his console gaming knowledge isn't as comprehensive, he considers himself a console veteran. Goran has almost a decade of experience writing about tech and video games for numerous web publications including TechSpot, TechPowerUp, and EsportsHeadlines. He has been writing for How-To Geek since December 2022. When he isn't gaming or deciding which component of his PC to upgrade next, you can find him strolling around Novi Sad while listening to music and contemplating what to play next. In early September 2026, Microsoft announced Project Zenith, an effort to provide developers with a ready-to-code, distraction-free Windows configuration out of the box, equipped with a suite of useful developer tools. The thing is, aside from the preinstalled tools, the Windows 11 configuration that will ship on Project Zenith devices sounds kind of like a debloated version of Windows coming directly from Microsoft, but unfortunately, you can’t really use it on your current PC. That said, you can get pretty close by running a single script offered by Microsoft, but it’s not quite the debloat you might expect. Project Zenith sounds great for anyone tired of Windows 11’s clutter But there's a catch Credit: Microsoft As I’ve said, Project Zenith is a special Windows 11 configuration that will ship on devices that satisfy the Project Zenith hardware requirements, which include at least 64GB of unified memory and memory bandwidth of at least 250GB/s. While Project Zenith won’t be available on regular PCs, which is a shame, it will be included on developer PCs equipped with AMD Ryzen AI Max+ (such as the AMD Ryzen AI Halo) or NVIDIA RTX Spark chips, as long as they have at least 64GB of RAM (the RAM acts as unified memory on these chips since it’s shared by the CPU and GPU). While it’s not a special edition of Windows 11 like Windows 11 Home and Windows 11 Pro are, Project Zenith still includes a number of changes that cut down the clutter and distractions, along with some handy File Explorer tweaks that will benefit power users. For starters, Project Zenith PCs will have Start menu tips, account notifications, sync provider tips, and recently used files and folders turned off, and Command Palette will be enabled in Search and Start since PowerToys comes preinstalled. As for the File Explorer settings, hidden files, the full path in the title bar, showing file extensions, the details pane, and long-path support will all be enabled by default. On top of that, Windows Terminal and VS Code will be pinned to the Taskbar. These PCs will also ship with a number of developer tools and apps preinstalled. You’ll be greeted with VS Code, GitHub Copilot, Windows App Development CLI (winapp CLI), and other tools as soon as you turn on the PC for the first time, with various programming languages and runtimes included as well. Last but not least, every Project Zenith PC will come with Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). You can get a Project Zenith-like experience with a single PowerShell command But I don't recommend doing it since it installs a bunch of developer tools Credit: Microsoft / GitHub While Project Zenith is not intended for regular users like you and me, you can still get a Project Zenith-like Windows 11 experience by setting up Windows Developer Config, an open-source project by Microsoft you can check out on GitHub. Windows Developer Config includes most of the stuff you would get if you bought a Project Zenith PC, and then some. Instead of having to own a beefy PC, all you need to do is visit the project’s GitHub page and run a single PowerShell command found there, depending on your preferences. The project offers two configuration scripts: standard and full. The standard experience includes all the developer tools, PowerShell 7, and the WSL platform and Ubuntu, along with most of the Windows and File Explorer settings changes I’ve mentioned above. The script also disables online suggestions in Windows Search, Search Highlights, and Start menu recommendations, and it enables Do Not Disturb mode and dark theme. The full experience comes with a few extras. Running the full experience script will enable Developer Mode and Sudo in Windows settings. It will also disable widgets and the annoying Edge first-run experience (where Edge asks you to sign in with your Microsoft account and import data from your default browser), along with enabling Remote Desktop. Now, this sounds like a debloated Windows straight from Microsoft, but that’s not entirely true. Aside from disabling annoying Windows settings and the Edge first-run experience, Windows Developer Config scripts also install a bunch of developer tools and apps on your PC. Sure, some are very handy to have regardless of whether you write code, such as PowerToys and PowerShell 7, but if you aren’t a developer, you definitely don’t need stuff like VS Code, GitHub Copilot CLI, and all those programming languages and runtimes such as Python and Node.js. So at the end of the day, I don’t recommend running a Windows Developer Config script if you aren’t a developer. It will disable many annoying Windows settings and features, but you can do that anyway, either manually or via a third-party Windows debloating tool, without the extra baggage. Tools like WinUtil change settings and remove unnecessary apps instead of adding new ones When it comes to debloating Windows, you can pick from multiple third-party tools. For instance, my go-to option, WinUtil by Chris Titus, allows you to change and disable most of the Windows settings included with the Windows Developer Config scripts, but without having to install anything. Besides that, third-party debloating tools allow you to disable additional Windows options and features you might not need or want on your PC, such as location tracking and telemetry, BitLocker disk encryption, activity history, and more. You can also remove bloatware and preinstalled apps you don’t need, tweak your Windows Update settings or even disable updates, and do so much more. The best thing is that all these tweaks are optional; you can change only the stuff you want and leave the rest intact. And while WinUtil also lets you install various apps, such as PowerToys, again, that’s only if you want to. On the other hand, Windows Developer Config bulk-changes a bunch of settings along with installing a ton of developer tools and apps, which aren't of much use to non-developers. We need Project Zenith, but for regular Windows users As it stands, Project Zenith sounds very useful, if you’re a developer. I can say the same about the Windows Developer Config scripts. Sure, they change or disable some Windows settings no one needs, but they also come with a bunch of unnecessary stuff for those of us who don’t write code for a living. If you want to debloat Windows, third-party tools are still a superior choice. That said, I’d still like to see Microsoft come up with an initiative similar to Project Zenith, but for regular users. Just imagine having the option to preconfigure Windows 11 during installation, being able to disable things you don’t need and leave only the stuff you’ll actually use. I don’t need it to allow me to disable telemetry or location tracking, but booting into a fresh Windows 11 installation with dark mode enabled, all those distracting options disabled, and File Explorer settings changed out of the box would be grand to see. Considering that Microsoft itself said that “Windows is becoming faster, calmer, and more polished with more control over the experiences you care about most,” I hope we’ll see something like that sooner or later. If Microsoft really wants to listen to regular users, and not just developers, this would be a good place to start.