- Windows 11 got a major performance boost with its latest update, including 40% faster multi-tasking on an 8GB PC based on Microsoft’s testing
- That update is still a preview, mind, but the full release is coming next week, with other performance boosts, especially for 8GB PCs
- Meanwhile the developer of Tiny11 has managed to get a totally stripped-down version of Windows 11 running in an improbable 128MB of memory
Microsoft has gone into the details of how it’s made Windows 11 faster on 8GB PCs (and all systems for that matter), with these changes arriving in the next update for the OS – all while a third-party has demonstrated the operating system running on a meagre 128MB of RAM (with huge caveats as you might expect).
A blog post from Pavan Davuluri, head of Windows at Microsoft, entitled ‘Raising the bar for 8GB Windows 11 PCs’ gives us some further metrics as to how much performance has been improved by.
Microsoft has mentioned that Windows 11 is now up to 20% more responsive on 8GB machines before, but now it’s added another stat to consider, namely that the OS is 40% faster for multi-tasking (and that kind of workload is where 8GB of RAM can feel a lot more pushed to its limits).
In this case, Microsoft’s test involved “opening 20 tabs in Microsoft Edge, a 4K video, large Word, PowerPoint and Excel files, Outlook and File Explorer one after another, keeping everything open as we went.” This was 40% faster compared to Windows 11 in January 2026 (before the fix the OS campaign started), as measured on an HP OmniBook 3 laptop with a Snapdragon X Plus (Arm) 8-core CPU and 8GB of memory.
Davuluri explains that Microsoft’s approach to upping performance in Windows 11 runs along three distinct paths: “Making better use of the memory in every Windows 11 PC, protecting the interactions that need to feel instant even under load, and ensuring key apps and Windows require less memory.”
Of course, the exec points out that this work benefits all Windows 11 PCs, but that this tuning will be particularly beneficial for 8GB devices – clearly having key apps drain less system RAM is going to be great for lower memory loadouts.
Microsoft notes that in terms of memory management improvements, in multi-tasking tests on 8GB systems, it has “reduced committed-memory growth by up to 900MB” in Windows 11 running Edge and Microsoft 365 apps.
We’re also told that thanks to improvements in Windows 11’s compression techniques, more active data for apps can be stored in RAM (as opposed to on your drive, where it’s slower to be fetched) – to the tune of up to 2GB more. Davuluri employs a useful desk metaphor to illustrate this, which I think is worth a read for the less tech-savvy.
If you want the benefit of all this fresh speediness, Microsoft informs us that this performance tuning is in place in the very latest update for Windows 11, which is the optional update that arrived at the end of October (complete with right-click menu customization).
If you download that, though, bear in mind it’s a preview so officially still in testing. I’d advise waiting for the full release of the finished November update, which comes out next week on November 10, so you won’t have to be patient for long.
Analysis: necessary streamlining – and it appears to have done the trick
Okay, so Microsoft is touting some very specific performance measurements here and there’s bound to have been some cherry-picking going on. In other words, run a ton of different tests and pick the results that show off the very best performance levels (with a peak ‘up to’ value), but of course this is standard practice for any product marketing.
Still, it’s clear that strides have been made, and online feedback backs this up. There are numerous users who are observing that Windows 11 is faster after this most recent update, and indeed since version 26H2 was released.
As one Redditor observes: “I can confirm it, Windows 11 has been overall much more [responsive] on my system, it used to be slow as s**t and now even the context menu opens quite instant.”
Most of the negativity that now remains on social media, aside from the obvious trolling, is around why Microsoft didn’t have Windows 11 tuned up like this in the first place. And that a 40% improvement in multi-tasking was partly made possible because things were in such a sluggish state to begin with, and I think those are fair points (I’ve brought them up myself in the past).
Still, it’s clear that Microsoft is working hard and successfully optimizing Windows 11 for leaner RAM loadouts, and I obviously won’t argue with that. Meanwhile, the developer of Tiny11 – which allows you to create a completely stripped-down Windows installation – has proved that Microsoft’s OS can be pared back so it runs on just 128MB of RAM (hat tip to Tom’s Hardware).
That beats the developer’s old record of 184MB, and it’s a seriously impressive feat, but as you might imagine, what’s left in Windows after pruning it back so viciously is, well, barely anything. You can boot the desktop, open folders or the Start menu, and run Notepad, but not much else. It is “painfully slow” by the developer’s own admission, and not a workable version of Windows 11 so much as an exercise in what can be done.
The reason that projects such as Tiny11 are popular is because many folks are fed up with the bloat in Windows 11, and want to create their own tailored and streamlined version. If Microsoft keeps going with its successful performance tweaking and tuning, with any luck, there’ll be a lot less demand for the likes of Tiny11 in the future.
Microsoft is promising more memory efficiency tuning, and advances in memory compression, are coming, as well as a greater use of WinUI 3 for speedier apps and parts of the Windows 11 interface.
