Windows 11 multitasking is up to 40 percent faster on 8GB PCs

Microsoft says a new Windows 11 update improves memory use on PCs with 8GB of RAM. In lab tests, multitasking was up to 40 percent faster, while Windows was up to 20 percent more responsive, according to Windows chief Pavan Davuluri.

Microsoft attributes part of the improvement to memory compression. Davuluri says Windows can now keep up to 2GB more active data in memory instead of moving it to slower storage, making apps or browser tabs less likely to reload when reopened.

The company also says changes across Windows, Edge, and Microsoft 365 apps reduce committed-memory growth by up to 900MB. Improvements in Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook save a combined 360MB of RAM. On PCs with 8GB of RAM, Windows 11 now waits to load widgets until users open the widgets panel, saving around 200MB. Edge puts inactive tabs to sleep after 15 minutes.

Microsoft says it plans further memory work in the coming months. It aims to make compression more efficient and have Windows features and apps share more components, including a single web engine for widgets and search. The company is also working with PC and chip makers to reduce the memory reserved for hardware, leaving more available to Windows.