The Windows Ameliorated project has moved from giving instructions and batch files to a more compact executable AME Wizard.
Do you trust modifying the Windows 10 or Windows 11 installation with the AME Wizard, with regards to malware? Would you rather have an ameliorated installation than a proper Windows installation with regards to privacy?
I would lean towards an ameliorated installation if I could somehow be sure that the Wizard doesn’t add some sort of spyware.
Do you trust a customized version of Windows that some bloke made on the internet,
with your personal sensitive data?
I personally would not really.
i would say the best practice is still to create a custom iso yourself with tools like NT lite.
But it will take some time and dedication really.
Or use tools to debloat your Windows from reputable sources like the Chris Titus Toolbox.
The CTT toolbox also comes with a tool Microwin that lets create you a custom iso.
But how good that option actually is idk, cause i did not use it.
However in the end using third party tools is always a matter of trust really.
Best practice is still to build a custom iso yourself.
AME might be totally trust worthy idk.
But i have no idea which people are behind the project.
And there for i would not trust it really.
No one should trust anything or anyone completely. As my parents always taught me trust but verify!
Totally agree on that 
Ntlite is fantastic! I have used it so much and learned a lot but still always learning. I tend to use it live instead of iso since somethings can break your install.
Well worth the money to learn to remove the fat and keep the muscle 
Good points.
Originally (as far as I remember) the “amelioration” procedure was a bunch of instructions and batch/script files for windows and linux. That way, it could be both verifiable and trusted. Now it’s just an executable. Do you guys use it, are you familiar with the project, can it be converted back to batch file operations? What is the community’s opinion on it? Why trust NTLite and not AME? Why trust CTT, W10Privacy, or any other such tool more or less?
Which other custom windows installations are to be trusted (again, the objective is to remove Windows bloat and spyware, as much as possible)
User’s comment checks out!!!
Ntlite is just a program and nothing else but what you do with it is like being a total god in the os. It can remove everything from the windows os so much so that you can brick your os. However once you learn the ins and outs about it then it becomes a powerful tool!
It’s better to learn what you want to keep and what you want to get rid of. Other builds may remove something you need and then having to start from scratch again.
If it’s an exe, it’s very likely a little UI for the batch files that already existed with minor modifications, adding your filters/arguments and then appending the .xml responsible for Windows ISO modification for OOBE into the .iso.
You can dump the XML unattend files in the .iso and run a diff on the XML(s) in question compared to one you’ve created from the setup scripts in the past.
The thing that’s confusing here is if you’re running the batch scripts by reading the AME setup instructions originally, were you even aware of what the .bat files are doing in the first place? 
I don’t even trust Microsoft to not put malware in their operating system and they have a huge financial incentive to not lose face before all their business and government contracts worldwide, so some kind of enthusiast rootkit, even one that purports to mean well, is right out.
I don’t trust it much more than microsoft, but I rarely run it on bare metal. It’s convenient
Honestly Linux may be a better solution depending on what your doing. If you on Windows just strip out everything you don’t need. Don’t go heavily modifying the system as you will create a unquie system that becomes a security risk.
Is this not literally the behavior of malware?
Good thing is, that their amelioration runbook is opensourced and readable. You can mine it and implement all the changes yourself.
That custom runner and their site is sketchy looking however, so no suprise you skittish.
Persoanlly I consider this kind of customization risky if not well documented and tested, which it never is.
And that “game tuned os” whatever, I would really like to see any data showing menifungful results. Pretty sure it standart tuning snakeoil that was around since 2000.
Ntlite has had before and after results for general gaming and windows related stuff…I can show that some day with my system but it’s in a place I really like and I would hate to reinstall windows test then reapply my build and test again.
Latancymon sees a big improvement for my system as well(your mileage will vary) and only using 1.3gigs of ram when start up with all my programs running(MSI afterburner,Nvidia stuff like that with 0 percent usage in cpu) Yes this won’t show enough data to convince a lot of you but till I get another reinstall done and show results again my word would just have to be taken.
I am not here to promote or sell you a magic potion just sharing my results on a program I like.
I think its better to get something like a Windows 11 Enterprise edition or Education edition. IIRC you can turn off all the OS shenanigans from the Policy Editor.
The AME removes Windows Defender, IIRC, and the protection of Windows entirely relies on that particular software. Some updates, when applied, will also break your Windows install because AME is simply not a supported use case.
AME is something a home user can get…
Enterprise however?
Yarr…
yuk
I think Chris Titus used to offer excess keys from his own enterprise account for a price. Not sure if he still does.