Microsoft says Windows 11 now runs much better with just 8 GB of RAM

PCs with 8 GB of RAM may no longer be as heavily criticized by Windows 11 users.

About a month ago, we mentioned an article published by TechPowerUp regarding the Windows 11 update. It discussed improved performance of Microsoft’s operating system, which was expected to be more responsive and less memory-intensive. This improvement is all the more significant given that the current climate is clearly not conducive to updating the system to keep up with that darn RAM, which just keeps going up and up. A more than 300% increase in the space of a year—that really makes you think!

It’s hard to say whether it was this runaway inflation in DRAM prices that pushed Microsoft toward better optimizing its system, but the fact is that it works out rather well for our PCs. Since good news never comes alone, Microsoft confirmed today that these gains are particularly noticeable on “smaller” machines—those with just 8 GB of RAM. In a lengthy post on the official Windows blog, Microsoft explains in detail all the changes made and the improvements this will bring to PCs with these configurations.

For example, the post discusses data compression—a feature that has been in use for years and has now been optimized. Microsoft emphasizes that“Windows can now keep up to an additional 2 GB of your active data in memory instead of moving it to slower storage. This means an app or tab left open is less likely to reload when you return.” Also on these machines with 8 GB of RAM, there’s mention of improved responsiveness with examples such as opening the Start menu or Settings, launching a search, or using the Screenshot tool: operations that, “compared to the January 2026 update, are up to 20% faster.”

Clearly not shy about sharing numbers, Microsoft also points out that these optimizations allow Edge—its web browser—to open “up to 33% faster.” As for Teams, the company reports “up to 20% faster startup and reduced system resource usage while running.” As the video above explains, however, it’s multitasking that benefits most from Microsoft’s optimizations. The company describes a demanding test scenario:“successively opening 20 tabs in Microsoft Edge, a 4K video, large Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files, as well as Outlook and File Explorer, while keeping all applications open. Thanks to today’s update, this workflow ran up to 40% faster than with the January 2026 versions.” Is Windows 11 finally truly usable with 8 GB of RAM? That’s clearly good news. Too bad we had to wait so long.