I've located the problem.
NTLite is treating Appx removals differently on W7 vs. W11 hosts. Now if you're just removing packages, NTLite runs equally well on non-W11 hosts since they're simply components to DISM. For integrating updates, you need a real W10 or 11 system.
None of the logs on both hosts list .NET.Native packages as being removed. Cortana is dependent on:
On W11 hosts, both .NET.Native packages are silently removed without asking. This is confirmed in post #8 & #19, and my testing. Furthermore, after editing NTLite no longer reports apps like StorePurchase requiring .NET.Native frameworks (which the manifest does).
On W7 hosts, both .NET.Natives are present after applying. W7 is following the correct behavior. Removing an Appx package should not remove any core packages it depends on unless we have another trigger.
It's not a removal-then-updates problem since I used UUP 22000.739
. nuhi - This is a serious problem...