We are excited to announce that one of the most awaited features, Removable Packages, for Windows IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021 customers is available today.
OEMs can now optimize their devices:
- Reduce disk footprint enable OEMs to save costs on media that is not used on the devices.
- Reduce the security risks and servicing costs for unused packages and code.
- Reduce bandwidth consumption and time to update the devices.
This capability for Windows IoT Enterprise OEMs allows for specific optional packages that are not needed for the device use cases, such as printer drivers and fonts, to be removed via DISM.
This feature also ensures that future OS updates do not reinstate the removed optional packages which have been explicitly tagged as ‘OEM removable’ by Microsoft.
As of today, this feature is only available for the Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021 SKU.
Before you get started
Apply the latest cumulative update, May 24th, 2022 (KB5014023) or later to your base Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021 image and reboot your device.
Please note this combined update will have the standalone SSU as a pre-requisite and only the devices which have not consumed any updates after 15th March 2022 and are consuming updates offline, will need to install the standalone SSU before installing the combined update.
How to use this feature
Please review the Windows IoT Enterprise Removable Package documentation to learn which packages are appropriate for you to remove. We have also provided a script to assist with the removal and clean-up processes.
Please contact your Windows IoT Distributor if you have any questions or require additional assistance.
