You can now download and install Windows 10 Lean

News about a cut down version of Windows 10 intended for low-cost tablets has leaked out over the last 2 weeks, and now you can download and install the minimum viable version of Windows 10 for yourself.

The installer is 2 GB smaller than Windows 10 Pro, and after installation only has a footprint of 6.5 GB on your hard drive, around half of the usual 12 GB+ size Windows 10 normally occupies.

Of this only 175 MB is bundled apps and games, with other niceties such as drivers, programs and even wallpaper being removed, totalling more than 50,500 files missing compared to normal Windows 10 Pro.

Interestingly this also results in lower resource usage, with the 64-bit OS only using 1.5 GB RAM after bootup, and being very responsive in a virtual machine.

In some ways, Windows 10 Lean is also a legacy-free version of the operating system, with the Control Panel, for example, empty and unpopulated with items.  Unlike Windows RT however regular Win32 applications can still be installed.

According to reports, the operating system is intended for tablets with 16 GB of storage though many have said this cut-down version of the OS would be an ideal base for a C-Shell-based operating system, which should surely still need to offer a desktop in some situations.

WindowsBlogItalia is hosting the ISOs for the 32bit and 64-bit version of the operating system. By all accounts, the operating system is still very buggy, but adventurous users can find instructions there.