THE CRUNCH
Microsoft has shipped a batch of Windows 11 optimisations aimed squarely at PCs with 8GB of RAM, claiming the operating system is now up to 20 percent more responsive and multitasking up to 40 percent faster on such machines. The gains come from memory management: better compression lets Windows keep up to 2GB more of your active data in RAM instead of pushing it to slower storage, so apps and tabs you left open are less likely to reload. The improvements require Windows 11 version 26H2, build 26300.9818 or later.
Everyday interactions benefit most. Opening Start, File Explorer and Settings, searching and right-clicking are all up to 20 percent more responsive since January, which Microsoft achieved by holding back background jobs like search indexing while you are actively using the PC. Edge can open up to 33 percent faster, Teams gets an Efficiency Mode on by default that speeds up launch by up to 20 percent, and Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook use up to 360MB less RAM. Widgets now load only when opened, and inactive Edge tabs go to sleep after 15 minutes by default.
The multitasking figure comes from Microsoft's own lab test, which opened 20 Edge tabs, a 4K video, Outlook, File Explorer and large Office files and left them all running, so treat the numbers as vendor benchmarks under favourable conditions. Microsoft also cites a benchmark it commissioned comparing 2026 machines with 2021 models, in which an 8GB Dell XPS 13 from 2026 largely matched a 2021 configuration with twice the memory across general CPU performance, web browsing, 4K video export and some AI tasks.
There are limits. Microsoft says 16GB or more is still the sensible choice for demanding work such as 3D modelling, advanced video editing or large-scale data processing, and it plans further work: smarter memory compression, Windows features sharing common components such as one web engine for Search and Widgets, and cooperation with PC makers and chipmakers to shrink the memory hardware reserves for itself.