Microsoft is eager to prove Windows 11 is just as good as macOS on 8GB RAM: Says Windows is now 20% more responsive and 40% faster at multitasking compared to a year ago

Microsoft is eager to prove Windows 11 is just as good as macOS on 8GB RAM: Says Windows is now 20% more responsive and 40% faster at multitasking compared to a year ago

By Zac Bowden
Publication Date: 2026-11-03 17:00:00



Microsoft has detailed a number of changes and improvements that it has made to Windows 11 over the last handful of months that are designed to improve the OS for devices that have just 8GB of RAM. The company says that as of today, Windows 11 is more RAM-efficient and faster on PCs with limited memory compared to a year ago.

“On 8 GB PCs, Windows is now up to 20% more responsive, and multitasking is up to 40% faster in our lab test” Microsoft CVP Pavan Davaluri says. “We’re approaching this in three parts: making better use of the memory in every Windows 11 PC, protecting the interactions that need to feel instant even under load, and ensuring key apps and Windows require less memory.”