A stripped-down version of Windows 11 “Enterprise G” ISO has been examined – built for the Chinese government and related organizations

The channel “Some Ordinary Gamers” found an ISO image of Windows 11 24H2 that is allegedly a Chinese version of the “Government Edition.” The ISO image was reportedly from Google Drive and “should be used for evaluation purposes as it cannot be ‘legally’ installed on your computer.” Mutathar notes the dangers of using custom Windows 11 ISOs, but examines this version to show how much can be removed while keeping resource usage low.

Mutahar has criticized the potential dangers of custom Windows 11 from random sources in his previous videos, as these ISOs may contain malware and backdoors. Instead, it is best to download Windows 11 from an official source and use a well-known bloat removal tool, Windows 11 Debloat, from Github.

I have Windows Government Edition in my hands… – YouTube

Be careful

Mutahar goes on to explain that the existence of a “Government Edition” of Windows 11 is partly true, as electronic software distribution (ESD) packages can be found for Windows 11 Enterprise G, short for Government. Mutahar installed this ISO image on his virtual machine to show how many apps are removed from this version and how many resources it saves on a system with six cores and 8 GB of RAM. This customized operating system used significantly fewer resources than the standard Windows 11 Home or Pro editions, as some native apps did not run in real time because they were removed.

While there are still a lot of native apps in this version, some have been removed — namely the Windows Store, Microsoft’s Edge Browser, and Windows Defender. The absence of these apps is also likely because they would transmit system data to Microsoft servers, which would be unacceptable for any government organization, let alone China, including military apps.

As previously reported, the Chinese government uses its own Ubuntu and HarmonyuOS operating systems as part of an effort to rely on local options, including hardware components like Longsoon and Zhaoxin processors. However, the Windows operating system is still needed for some tasks due to its widespread adoption around the world.

(Photo source: Some Ordinary Gamers)

Is Windows 11 Enterprise G ISO the real deal?

There is a stripped down version of Windows 11 made for a Chinese government company that provides hardware and software solutions to its civilian and military organizations. It is unclear, however, whether these ISO images are from that company or elsewhere.

A brief discussion on the Microsoft forum confirms that Enterprise G is being created for the Chinese government. Regarding this ISO, the source explains that it is a fake Windows 11 Enterprise G ISO that is bloated and comes with a pre-installed keygen instead of an official license. This also revives Mutahara’s earlier observation that one of the risks is that these ISOs have key features like updates and Defender disabled, needed for security. Regardless of the legality of these ISOs, the risks outweigh the benefits, so it’s best to avoid the ISO.

Official ISO images are readily available through Microsoft, and if a user needs a debloat, there are trusted tools and scripts available. Tiny11 is one such tool that we’ve reported on before, offering options to remove things like Copilot features, disable automatic updates, remove or disable Windows Defender, and remove the Windows Store. While many would like to remove some options to simplify Windows 11, it’s best not to remove some key items for security reasons.