Microsoft has announced plans to optimize Windows 11 memory usage for personal computers with 8GB of RAM or more, aiming to deliver a faster and more responsive operating system experience by the end of 2026.
Pavan Davuluri, President of Windows and Devices at Microsoft, detailed the initiative in a social media update on X following user dissatisfaction with overall system latency and heavy resource consumption across native apps.
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The tech giant confirmed that it implemented initial adjustments to lower memory overhead across system components and tuned its WinUI 3 framework to ensure built-in applications require less memory by design.
Microsoft is also driving memory efficiencies across Chromium and Webview2 components, which power several background operating system elements including Widgets, Search, and the Start menu.
"Memory optimization for 8 GB and above: Reducing Windows memory footprint to deliver a fast and responsive Windows experience across the PCs customers use every day," Davuluri posted on X.
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Performance Concerns and User Feedback
Recent independent hardware testing demonstrated that Windows 11 utilizes approximately 6.6GB of system memory on a fresh boot with minimal startup applications, forcing the operating system to swap data to storage drives during basic multitasking.
A recent poll conducted by TechPowerUp involving 24,100 participants revealed that 46 percent felt Windows 11 performance remained unchanged despite prior optimization promises, while 36 percent reported that operating system performance had gotten worse.
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In addition to memory optimizations, Microsoft is actively engineering a compact right-click context menu within File Explorer designed to load faster by prioritizing core actions and allowing users to customize menu entries.
