Microsoft claims Windows 11 performance gains on 8GB PCs
Company lab tests showed up to 20% better responsiveness and up to 40% faster multitasking, though results may differ outside those tests.
Microsoft says changes to Windows 11 have improved responsiveness by up to 20% and multitasking speed by up to 40% on PCs with 8GB of memory. The figures come from the company's laboratory tests and represent best-case results, rather than gains every user should expect.
Pavan Davuluri, Microsoft's executive vice president of Windows and Devices, described efforts to use available memory more efficiently, keep interactions responsive under heavy workloads and reduce memory requirements for Windows and key applications. Microsoft acknowledged that machines with 16GB or 32GB would still perform better.
The responsiveness tests measured actions including opening Settings, File Explorer and the Start menu against January's update. For multitasking, Microsoft kept 20 Edge tabs running alongside a 4K video, large Office files, Outlook and File Explorer.
Microsoft also reported up to 900MB less growth in committed memory during multitasking tests following changes to Windows, Edge and Microsoft 365. Windows reduces background work, including search indexing, to give priority to the user's current activity.
On PCs with 8GB or less, Widgets now loads only when opened, cutting its memory commitment by roughly 200 MB while closed. Edge puts unused tabs to sleep after 15 minutes instead of two hours. Microsoft says the improvements require Windows 11 26H2, build 26300.9818 or later, along with updated versions of Edge, Microsoft 365 and Teams.
