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Microsoft says Windows 11 has become significantly more efficient on PCs with 8GB of RAM, with everyday responsiveness improving by around 20 per cent and multitasking performance rising by as much as 40 per cent in laboratory testing.
The company says the gains come from a series of memory-management changes introduced across recent Windows 11 updates, including more aggressive memory compression, fewer background tasks, faster sleeping of inactive Edge tabs and reduced memory use in Microsoft 365 applications.
The improvements are particularly relevant as higher memory prices make new PCs more expensive for many buyers.
Microsoft Claims 20% Better Everyday Responsiveness
Microsoft based its 20 per cent responsiveness claim on telemetry measuring how quickly common Windows features respond.
The tests covered tasks involving Search, the Start menu, right-click actions, Settings, Snipping Tool and File Explorer.
The company said the improvements are included in Windows 11 version 26H2, build 6300.9550, released on September 29, 2026.
Microsoft also reported stronger gains in multitasking.
In one laboratory test, an HP OmniBook 3 powered by a Snapdragon X Plus processor and 8GB of RAM showed multitasking performance improvements of up to 40 per cent.
The test involved opening 20 Microsoft Edge tabs, followed by a 4K video, large Word, PowerPoint and Excel files, Outlook and File Explorer, with all applications kept open.
Microsoft compared completion times across different Windows 11 builds to measure the improvement.
8GB PCs Compared With Older 16GB Systems
Microsoft went further, saying that an 8GB Windows PC today can perform similarly in some everyday scenarios to how a 16GB PC performed in 2021.
The comparison covered web browsing, AI-assisted web tasks such as background blur and face detection, and 4K video export.
The company did not suggest that 8GB is enough for every type of workload.
It acknowledged that users working with demanding applications, heavy content creation, large datasets or more intensive multitasking will still benefit from additional memory.
However, Microsoft said 8GB remains a suitable configuration for many people performing everyday tasks.
Memory Compression Plays a Bigger Role
One of the biggest changes involves memory compression.
Microsoft says Windows can now keep up to 2GB more active data in memory instead of moving it to slower storage.
This means applications or browser tabs that users leave open are less likely to reload when they return to them.
The company said these memory optimisations began rolling out in July.
Reducing the need to move data between RAM and storage can improve responsiveness, particularly on machines with smaller memory configurations.
Background Processes Are Being Throttled
Windows 11 has also been changed to reduce the impact of less important background processes while the user is actively working.
Search indexing, for example, can be throttled when the system detects active user interaction.
Microsoft says this can make the system feel more responsive, especially after a restart following an update when Windows may still be completing setup tasks in the background.
The company has also adjusted how frequently some applications remain active when they are not being used.
Edge Tabs Now Sleep Much Faster
Microsoft Edge has received changes aimed specifically at reducing memory use on lower-memory PCs.
Inactive tabs now enter sleep mode after 15 minutes instead of waiting for up to two hours.
Sleeping tabs release memory while preserving the page state, allowing users to return later without starting from scratch.
Microsoft also keeps parts of Edge running in the background so that the browser can open more quickly.
The company says this has improved launch speed by about 33 per cent.
Microsoft 365 Apps Use Less Memory
Microsoft has also reduced memory usage across Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook.
According to the company, these applications together now use about 360MB less RAM than before.
Widgets have also been optimised.
Microsoft says around 200MB of memory can be saved by loading Widgets only when the user opens them instead of keeping the feature active continuously.
On PCs with 8GB of RAM, Microsoft Teams can also use Efficiency Mode by default to reduce its impact on system resources.
Taken together, these changes have reportedly reduced committed-memory growth by as much as 900MB.
More Memory Savings Are Planned
Microsoft says further optimisation work is underway.
One planned change involves allowing multiple Windows features to share common components instead of loading separate copies.
Search and Widgets, for example, are expected to share one web engine.
OneDrive and Photos are also planned to share components to reduce memory consumption across both applications.
Microsoft is additionally reworking applications built on its WinUI 3 framework to improve launch speed and reduce memory use.
These changes are expected to affect applications including File Explorer, Notepad, Paint and the newer Windows search experience.
8GB Still Has Limits
The improvements do not mean that 8GB and 16GB systems are interchangeable in every scenario.
Performance can vary significantly depending on the processor, storage speed, workload and number of applications in use.
Gaming, professional video editing, virtual machines, software development and other demanding workloads can still require significantly more memory.
Microsoft’s claims are primarily focused on everyday productivity and common consumer workloads.
The company’s message is that software optimisation can help lower-memory PCs remain practical for longer, particularly for users who do not need high-end performance.
Higher RAM Prices Add Importance to Optimisation
The timing of the announcement is notable because memory prices have risen sharply.
Growing demand from AI infrastructure and data centres has placed pressure on the broader memory market, contributing to higher prices for consumer RAM.
That makes lower-memory PCs more attractive for budget-conscious buyers, provided their performance remains acceptable.
Microsoft’s latest Windows 11 changes appear aimed at extending the usefulness of 8GB systems rather than positioning them as replacements for higher-memory machines.
For many users, the bigger question is no longer whether 8GB is ideal, but whether software improvements can make it good enough for the tasks they perform most often.
Microsoft’s latest figures suggest that, for everyday Windows 11 use, the answer may increasingly be yes.
