Begin with W11
Begin with W11
It seems an LTSC will remain unchanged at a particular release, only receiving security and bug fixes rather than new features like the 25H2 updates. Installing 24H2 will keep it that way for several years. I’m unsure if this could cause issues if a new GPU or similar hardware arrives requiring 25H2. There’s an Enterprise and IOT version available, though IOT is expected to reach end-of-life in ten years. The main challenge might be that Microsoft doesn’t officially market these to regular users, so you’ll need to find alternative ways to activate them. I’m not sure if standard keys will work, and it’s possible the Enterprise edition would be preferable for users who want a cleaner experience without spam.
On Windows this differs from Linux in that drivers exist independently of the Kernel and are typically added separately. This means missing updates might not cause immediate problems. However, some tweaks W11 makes with 27H2 could be lost if you upgrade soon. It seems unlikely to matter much in the long run, particularly if you avoid replacing your GPU in 2029 and stick with 24H2. But if you upgrade to a new graphics card in 2028, you’d likely switch to the latest LTSC version and stop using older ones. These LTSC versions are designed for fixed systems with minimal changes, so frequent hardware updates might not be ideal.