Best OS to install on a 2600K / Sandy Bridge system?

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Delicieuxz

[H]ard|Gawd
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From what I've read, Windows 11 isn't a good option for these CPUs, and future updates could make them have an even worse time with the OS.

I'm setting up my old PC to give to a friend. I've installed Windows 10 LTSC 2021 IoT on it. But I'm running into some annoying issues that take control away from the visible screen due to messages displaying in the background while launching a game, about the lack of some app that depends on UWP (which LTSC doesn't have support for). I think the missing app error message I encountered might've been related to the AMD in-game overlay feature for the 6700 XT I've put in the system. But I'm not sure.

I went with Win 10 LTSC IoT because it will get security updates for 10 years (until 2031), while all other versions of Windows 10, including the non-IoT, 2021 LTSC version, will end their security updates in 2025, which is pretty soon. And I expect my friend will be using this PC for a long time, perhaps another 10 years.
 
Delicieuxz said:
From what I've read, Windows 11 isn't a good option for these CPUs, and future updates could make them have an even worse time with the OS.
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Windows 11 will work fine on a Sandy Bridge CPU, and much older CPUs even. I have Windows 11 running on my retro gaming system which is based on an overclocked 2500k, and I also have it on my HTPC which uses a Sandy Bridge-based Xeon. No issues in either case. These issues you're experiencing with Windows 10 LTSC are already far beyond any issue that you would experience with Windows 11.

The only notable "issue" with Windows 11 on unsupported CPUs is that they don't automatically get major feature updates via Windows Update. For example, those with Windows 11 21H2 (22000 branch) were never offered the 22H2 (22621 branch) upgrade via Windows Update. But they DO and will continue to get security updates on 21H2 (22000 branch) until it's no longer supported anymore. And, at any time, you can simply do an in-place upgrade to manually upgrade to the latest branch, which takes maybe 10-15 minutes. This will also presumably be the case for those running 22H2 (22621 branch) when 23H2 is released. So as long as you're in a position to provide at least some help to your friend in the future, you could just do an in-place upgrade to the latest version on their system once every 1-3 years to keep it current. An In-place upgrade can even be initiated remotely via something like Teamviewer.

I've already tested the latest "Dev" Build (23506) and the latest "Canary" Build (25905) on my test box which is running a 64-bit single-core Pentium 4. That's basically the oldest CPU that I could get Windows 11 running on, so I use it as a dedicated test box to see if Beta (Dev) and Alpha (Canary) builds are introducing anything that looks like it might cause issues with older CPUs in the future. So far, zero indication that there will be any issues in the foreseeable future. It will be interesting to see what Windows 12 will run on.
 
I'm going to give Windows 11 a try on the system. Windows 10 LTSC 2021 IoT works well, apart from getting that annoying error message that takes control away from the visible screen when trying to launch a game. It's related to AMD's Radeon overlay, but it still appears even when I disable the Radeon overlay in the AMD Overdrive (or whatever it's called) app.

I had trouble getting the mobo chipset drivers to install on Win 10 LTSC 2021, though I previously had no trouble installing them in LTSC 2019. I eventually got them installed by running a sub-folder exe in the driver package in compatibility mode. But that was after I first tried to run the main exe in compatibility mode, which wanted to restart the PC to continue the installation process, and which failed to continue the installation process upon restarting, and now every time Windows 10 LTSC 2021 boots up, I get this error message, relating to the failed attempt to install the chipset driver, popping up three times in a row.

It'd be neat if someone knows how to get Windows to cancel that attempt to find and install those drivers on bootup, though I'm going to reformat the drive to try different OSes, anyway.

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I'm also looking at installing a custom, lightweight Windows 11 OS, called Ghost Spector. It's supposed to be leaner and faster than normal Windows 11. Benches suggest it isn't by too much, but does maybe 6 - 7% better in benchmarks.

But I wonder if there would be issues after running Windows Update down the road and maybe stuff breaking. Though, the info for Ghost Spector says that Windows Update can still be run.
 

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I'm running Windows 11 on my SR-2 (2x X5676) Xeon build. I used Rufus to make the ISO and added the bypass checkbox. I get major updates just fine, so idk if I got lucky but for me it works fine.

On my Sandy Bridge I am running Windows 10 Pro. Works perfectly fine. I think you can't go wrong with Windows 10 on Sandy Bridge.
 
10/11 will run on it fine. howd you get ltsc? since its ent/volume licensed...
 
I'm currently running Win 11 Enterprise on the Sandy Bridge 2600k system. Hopefully, there won't be any issues. I am having an issue with the mouse cursor sometimes jumping around erratically, but I was getting that issue in Win 10 LTSC 2021, too, so it's not unique to Win 11. I didn't have that issue in any previous version of Windows on the 2600K, though.

pendragon1 said:
10/11 will run on it fine. howd you get ltsc? since its ent/volume licensed...
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My Digital Life has info and links to download or create the LTSC 2021 ISO from an svf file and an LTSC 2021 evaluation copy. I also found it available for download on a license reseller site, without needing to buy a license. It's also on archive.org.

Reportedly, it's also possible to download any Windows ISO from Microsoft using power shell, though I haven't tried this myself.
 
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pendragon1 said:
battery?
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No, the battery for the mouse has been basically full. And the mouse isn't too far away from the receiver.

In Windows 10 LTSC 2021, the issue was happening specifically when the mouse cursor was over a window, like the File Explorer window. If it wasn't, it would move perfectly smooth - and then would be immediately smooth again as soon as the cursor wasn't hovering over a File Explorer window. But if it has hovering over a File Explorer window, and swirling the mouse around in a circle, then cursor would be jumping all around the place.

In the first version of Windows 11 I tried installing, which was the Ghost Spector, custom edition of Windows 11, the issue was more frequent, and happening in more places.

In the current version of Windows 11 I have installed, Windows 11 Enterprise, I haven't really noticed the issue in OS, but when playing Unreal Tournament it was happening, and the mouse would immediately jump to being in different places, as if lots of frames were being dropped. But then I just tried playing UT again now, and I didn't encounter the issue.

So, if it's continuing, it's intermittent. But I don't know what it's caused by.
 
sram said:
When I tried mint the first time I liked it. I was surprised it detected all my connected hardware out of the box There was no looking for drivers.
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The only drivers I install are Nvidia drivers and the drivers for my Brother laser printer - And even then I'm only really installing the drivers for the scanner, drivers for the printer are baked into the kernel. Nvidia drivers are easier to install under LTS releases than they are under Windows, and once you add the PPA, drivers update alongside OS updates provided you want them to.

I still can't believe Mint has made the upgrade to 6.2 optional, when every other LTS release has upgraded to 6.2 by default.
 
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