If Tiny11 has taught me anything, it's that I have a huge appreciation for people who can cut down an operating system to a portion of its original size. Granted, that usually involves lopping off some features (although one can argue that the services that do hit the cutting room floor aren't ones that people using the OS wanted in the first place), but the concept is there, and it's very cool to see.

But how far can you reduce a Windows operating system in size? Well, one person has demonstrated that you can crunch Windows 7 down to under 100MB, albeit the end result isn't exactly pretty. Still, if you want to give it a try, there is a download link where you can grab it for yourself.

Windows 7 reduced to 69.0 MB is not a pretty sight

This was XenoPanther's idea on X (thanks for the spot, Notebook Check!), who wanted to see how far they could get away with removing Windows 7 components while still having something that booted. It wasn't meant to be a serious tool that people would use on their daily driver, like Tiny11; it was instead more of a proof of concept of what could be done.Check it out in the post below:

Yeah, doesn't look appealing, does it? When you're trying to reduce the file size of Windows, superficial things such as the desktop wallpaper just gotta go. What's left is a dark, Windows 7 void, but hey, at least you saved a ton of disk space.

In fact, what's funnier is what did make the cut. Turns out, you can hack away at a Windows operating system until it's a sliver of its old self, but it will still find a way to warn you that you're using unsupported hardware. You know, the really important stuff.

You know, maybe XenoPanther's foray back into Windows 7 isn't just a wanton thought. Given that Windows 7's market share seemingly doubled a few months ago, maybe people are craving older operating systems once more. Honestly, if we're going backward, I really want an operating system that looks like Windows Vista without being Windows Vista. I'm still not done with Fruitger Aero.