Support for Windows 11 LTSC
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Appreciate that from a search of past forum posts the question of functionality and support when using Notepad ++ on Windows 10 LTSC has cropped up. However, what’s the position with running it on Windows 11 LTSC, released in Oct 2024 ? I can’t currently find any other references to this when searching.
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@Andy-S27 said in Support for Windows 11 LTSC:
Appreciate that from a search of past forum posts the question of functionality and support when using Notepad ++ on Windows 10 LTSC has cropped up. However, what’s the position with running it on Windows 11 LTSC, released in Oct 2024 ? I can’t currently find any other references to this when searching.
I’m not sure what “position” you are talking about. Insofar as Win 11 LTSC is Win 11, you can run Notepad++.
But I don’t think Notepad++ will ever be developed under the same “long term support” model with multiple concurrently-supported versions. Notepad++ has one version track, and all upgrades will include bugfixes, security fixes and new features. So if you want bugfixes and security fixes, you have to also accept new features; Notepad++ developers will never go back and release a “security fix” for an older version of Notepad++.
Corporations can afford to pay people to do the multi-version support like Windows offers; huge open-source projects like Linux or specific distros, with Foundation backing and/or huge numbers of volunteers, can find ways to do the LTS-model; but a tiny project like Notepad++, with one owner of the project, and a handful of people who can sometimes devote a little of their spare time to helping with Notepad++ are not likely to be able to support an LTS-type model, and a single upgrade path is all that can be reasonably expected from such a project.
If your point in using Win11 LTSC is to never get new features, then you can replicate that by turning off automatic updates of Notepad++, but then you sacrifice bug fixes and security fixes. If you want bug fixes and security fixes, then you have to take the normal Notepad++ upgrade path which includes new features as well. If you want a chance to evaluate new versions before installing them, you can turn off automatic updates, and when new versions are released, you can try them out through a portable zip first, without disrupting your installed version.