Tiny11 builder, that lets you debloat any Windows 11 with PowerShell, adds ESD support

It looks like NTDEV, the developer who publishes tiny11 builder is on a roll. The utility has been getting nearly daily updates lately. This is just a couple of days after it disabled telemetry.

If you like using PowerShell and scripts, then you are likely to enjoy using tiny11 builder. With this tool, the developer wants to help users automate the creation of debloated and streamlined Windows 11 images using Microsoft's own DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management) command-line interface.

With this latest release earlier today, tiny11 builder can now support ESD files as well in addition to WIM. It also completely removes all elements of Microsoft Edge and fixes a logging bug as well. The release note for the latest update says:

Tiny11 builder - 01-05-24 release

This new release of tiny11 builder enables the ability to use images that has ESD files instead of the standard WIM. It also suppresses some of the output, making it a bit easier to track what is going on.
It also cleans up the last remains of Edge! Last, but not least, it fixes an issue with logging.

The dev has also left instructions on how to use tiny11 builder:

Instructions:

1. Download Windows 11 from the Microsoft website (https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows11)
2. Mount the downloaded ISO image using Windows Explorer.
3. Select the drive letter where the image is mounted (only the letter, no colon (:))
4. Select the SKU that you want the image to be based.
5. Sit back and relax :)
6. When the image is completed, you will see it in the folder where the script was extracted, with the name tiny11.iso

More details are available on its official GitHub repo.

In case you may not be aware, ESD or Electronic Software Download, like WIM or Windows Imaging Format, is an image format for the purpose of distributing Windows OS. Unlike WIM though, ESD is encrypted and it is generally how WIM files are published on Windows Update.

ESD images are created from WIM utilizing the LZMS compression algorithm and it is done using what is referred to as "solid compression." This means the files are not compressed individually which is why ESD files are not mountable or easily customizable or tweakable, unlike WIM. However, the benefit is that ESD files are smaller than WIM.