Forget completing Zelda as quickly as possible: the latest speedrun you can beat is a Windows 10 install
Speed running has long been a preoccupation of gamers, but lately we’ve been seeing some more speed runs coming out of left field, and here’s another one: a super-fast installation of Windows 10.
Yes, you read that right, the challenge to install the Microsoft operating system as quickly as possible has been taken up by NTDev, the developer of the lightweight version of Windows 10 known as Tiny10 (and its sister version to Windows 11, called Tiny11). as you might guess).
NTDev managed to install their own version of Windows 10, aka Tiny10, in just over 100 seconds, not far off a minute and a half.
Very impressive? Yes, but there is a caveat, and it is not a small one: the Tiny10 version used was an old and further modified installer that was optimized for speed.
In fact, the attempt was made using a Tiny10 installation based on Windows 10 1809, the October 2018 Update.
Analysis: rules of the game?
To be fair, there was still a working version of Windows 10 installed – well, we assume – and the caveat that it’s an old Tiny10 build, further tinkered and streamlined for lightning-fast setup, isn’t in itself really critical. . It just depends on how you look at things…
Of course, a speed run that was just the standard installation process based on how fast you could click would be fatally boring and pointless. For us, it means hacking away at the operating system to work faster in the installation is the speed of running, in the same way as say bouncing off walls or shooting runs and so on, is for gamers (and who often find weird glitches that they can exploit in some way).
As long as the Windows version that is running is actually functioning, the speed run should count in our books. But if we take it seriously, this raises complicated questions about what could legitimately be left out, and what features should remain, if you want to somehow standardize the operating system’s speed rules.
The other (perhaps easier, but probably less fun) route would be to require a default installation, with no customizations, so the skill would be in the hardware installation. But even then, there should be rules about which setups and components are fair game. (Of course, NTDev tells us they used the fastest storage and RAM they could get their hands on).
In any case, this is a nice feat to watch, especially considering that a typical Windows installation will probably take about half an hour of your life (and is certainly not something you would want to watch). The only thing that’s honestly missing here is a ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ soundtrack that definitely should have been the background music choice (not the weak electronic beat that’s included).
There’s also a recent Windows 11 speedrun from NTDev that completes in a slightly longer, but still impressive, three minutes (see above).
How long does it take to install Windows 11? For us it will take another two and a third years (sorry Microsoft, couldn’t resist).
Through Tom’s hardware