Microsoft Says Windows 11 Is Now 'More Responsive' and Runs Better on 8GB of RAM

Earlier this year, Microsoft unveiled a plan to repair Windows 11 with a focus on performance, reliability and overall system experience. After months of fixes, Microsoft now says the result is a Windows experience that is up to 20 percent more responsive. Microsoft has made improvements to Start, File Explorer, Search, Edge and other […]

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Many of the speed improvements are thanks to smarter ways to manage PC memory and resources.

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is a senior reporter and writer for Notepad, covering all things Microsoft, PC and technology for over 20 years.

Earlier this year, Microsoft released a plan to fix Windows 11 with a focus on performance, reliability, and the overall operating system experience. After months of refinements, Microsoft now says "the result is a Windows experience that's up to 20 percent more responsive."

Microsoft has made improvements to Start, File Explorer, Search, Edge and other parts of Windows 11 to make it feel faster and more responsive. "A big part of this is smart use of memory and system resources," says Navjot Virk, vice president of Windows Experience at Microsoft. "We've improved memory management and efficiency across Windows to help focus more of your PC's resources on what you're actively doing."

Improved memory management now makes a "significant difference" on PCs with only 8GB of RAM. "Windows can now keep up to 2 gigabytes more of your active data in memory instead of moving it to slower storage," says Virk. For example, on PCs with 8 GB of memory or less, widgets are loaded only when you open them, leaving more than 200 MB of memory available for your programs and other tasks.

Microsoft has also made Windows Update less disruptive, cleaned up the widgets section, and finally allowed the taskbar to move to the sides or top of the screen. Windows Hello sign-in is also sped up, and Bluetooth pairing is more reliable, "including an AirPods pairing experience that's up to 15 seconds faster."

The next big step is a new Windows search experience that's much faster and more powerful. I got to try it out last week and I think it's one of the best new additions to Windows 11 this year. It's currently available to Windows Insiders, and Microsoft says it will be "rolling out more widely later this year."

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