Many users out there are convinced that their games lose a bit more performance with each new build of Windows 10. The comments are too numerous to be dismissed as anomalies or classic trolling, and this has sparked a long debate about low-level optimizations and modifications. However, some arrows point in the direction of Ghost Spectre, Windows 10 optimized for gaming, without bloatware, with various privacy and performance tweaks, automatic installations of popular software, and much more.
Playing Windows 10: Love and Hate
Each generational leap in Windows brings new pains to the gamer community, and Windows 10 is no exception. While the masterminds in Redmond insist on focusing their efforts on the "interface" and the "user experience", players ask for something concrete: a lighter and more efficient operating system, with superior performance, greater flexibility (that is, making everything that can be optional optional again), no latency issues, and most importantly... that it gets out of the way.
The next big Windows 10 update (Sun Valley 21H2) is supposed to reduce the number of preinstalled apps or reclassify them as optional, starting with 3D Paint and 3D Viewer. Is that enough? Of course not, but it is a step in the right direction. Meanwhile, users use all kinds of programs and scripts to "take out the trash"... although there is an alternative: Ghost Spectre.
Ghost Spectre: Windows 10 for Gaming Without Bloatware
The Ghost Spectre adventure began a few years ago with builds based on Windows 10 1809, followed by experiments with Windows 10 LTSC, a "Windows 8.1 Potato Edition" for humbler computers, and finally, its latest Windows 10 optimized for gaming. What is different about that build? The list is quite long, but we can share a summary:
- Zero bloatware, including UWP apps (though you can play exclusive titles)
- Cortana removed
- Optimizations for the index, scheduled tasks, services, and swapfile
- Windows Update paused until 2050 (more details below)
- Ghost Toolbox
This last point deserves a separate paragraph. The Ghost Toolbox behaves like a kind of "command center" that allows us to restore certain aspects of the operating system (for example, Cortana, OneDrive, and the Store), modify its configuration (size of the swap file or activate compact mode), apply gaming-specific tweaks (change HPET status or disable Spectre / Meltdown mitigations), and install popular software like browsers and game clients (Steam, GOG, etc.). If you decide to try Ghost Spectre on your computer, we are sure you will spend a lot of time inside the Ghost Toolbox analyzing all its options.
In Summary
Ghost Spectre is nothing more than a response to user demands, and judging by their comments, they are very happy with the results. Owners of more modern systems may not see such wide differences, but those who still depend on Intel chips from previous generations (essentially everything between Sandy Bridge and Kaby Lake) celebrate every gained FPS, and some youtubers are already taking note.
Its latest build is based on Windows 10 20H2 (also known as "2009"), and at installation time it offers two "editions": Superlite (for gaming and streaming, with all tweaks) and Compact (without tweaks, only removes bloatware), each with two special installers, Ghost Custom and Normal. If in doubt, I recommend doing the first tests in a virtualized environment, and when downloading the images, only use the links shared in the descriptions of their videos. The link to their official page will only take you to their YouTube channel.
Official site: Click here
