Microsoft has published specifics behind its earlier claims that 8GB Windows 11 machines now run up to 20% more responsively and 40% faster at multitasking. Since January, changes include faster Start menu, File Explorer and Settings access, quicker Edge launches, default Efficiency Mode in Teams, and apps like Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook using up to 360MB less RAM. Microsoft also points to features like sleeping inactive tabs after 15 minutes and on-demand widget loading as further memory-saving measures.
engadget.com
· 2026-11-03
Microsoft announced optimizations to Windows 11 aimed at devices with only 8GB of RAM, claiming the system is now up to 20% more responsive and 40% faster at multitasking in its own lab tests. The company says it achieved this through memory compression that keeps up to 2GB more active data in RAM, reduced background indexing during active use, and efficiency tweaks including a 33% faster Edge browser launch.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-11-03
Microsoft says updates in Windows 11 improve speed and memory handling specifically for PCs with 8GB of RAM, letting them run multiple apps and files more efficiently. The company outlined three goals: better use of existing memory, prioritizing tasks that need to feel instant, and reducing the memory footprint of Windows and key apps. Users can see the changes by updating to the Windows 11 26H2 build.
zdnet.com
· 2026-11-03
Microsoft released a Windows 11 update that it says makes the OS up to 20 percent more responsive and multitasking up to 40 percent faster on PCs with 8GB of RAM, according to Windows chief Pavan Davuluri. The gains come largely from improved memory compression, letting Windows keep up to 2GB more active data in RAM rather than offloading it to slower disk storage, alongside memory-saving changes to Edge, widgets, and Microsoft 365 apps that Davuluri says cut committed-memory growth by up to 900MB.
theverge.com
· 2026-11-03
Valve's latest Steam Hardware Survey shows the share of gamer systems with 32GB or more RAM fell by over 5% in a single month, while PCs with 1TB or more total storage dropped nearly 5%. Correspondingly, the proportion of systems with 8GB and 16GB RAM rose, as did those in the 750GB-999GB storage bracket.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-11-03
Tiny11 developer NTDEV demonstrated booting Windows 11 version 26H2 on a system with just 128MB of RAM, far below Microsoft's stated 4GB minimum. The stripped-down build could still load the desktop, File Explorer, Start menu and Notepad, though the developer described performance as painfully slow.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-11-03
TrendForce reports conventional DRAM contract prices jumped roughly 93-98% quarter over quarter in early 2026, driven partly by manufacturers shifting production toward AI data center memory. Micron exited its Crucial consumer RAM business this year citing AI demand, while HP says memory and storage will make up about 35% of its PC component costs in 2026, up from 15-18% previously, and has warned of PC price hikes. Used DDR4 kits offer some savings over new ones but still cost far more than in 2020.
engadget.com
· 2026-11-02
Raspberry Pi CEO Eben Upton announced another price hike for the 16GB Raspberry Pi 5, blaming a lack of alternative DRAM supply combined with shortages of other components. Upton advised customers to avoid paying for more memory than they need, suggesting lower-memory or older Pi models as alternatives. The 2GB Raspberry Pi 5 configuration had already seen a price increase the previous month.
theverge.com
· 2026-11-02
A NixOS user documented a multi-day effort to reduce the operating system's memory footprint, getting it to idle at roughly 96MB and complete a full rebuild within 512MB of RAM without triggering out-of-memory kills. By comparison, a stock NixOS deployment with cloud-init used 288MB at idle and needed up to 896MB to rebuild, previously causing OOM kills at 768MB on constrained setups. The changes included disabling kernel memory allocation profiling and reducing loaded kernel modules from 89 to 54.
lowendspirit.com
· 2026-11-01
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in an interview with YouTuber Cheeky Pint that it is 'quite terrible' for people to keep large amounts of DRAM sitting idle in personal computers, arguing memory should be maximized in the cloud given the current supply shortage. He made the comment while discussing local AI inference, where models run directly on a user's device rather than in data centers.
engadget.com
· 2026-10-31
Microsoft is encouraging owners of unused Xbox consoles to trade them in through Best Buy rather than let them sit idle. The push comes alongside Microsoft's own trade-in and refurbished-console programs, but this effort specifically highlights Best Buy's retail network.
engadget.com
· 2026-10-31
Apple's entire current iPhone lineup, including Pro models, has seen price increases this year, with the new $1,999 iPhone Duo foldable reportedly its most expensive phone yet. Comparing base Pro model pricing shows a notable gap between the 2019 iPhone 11 Pro and the 2026 iPhone 18 Pro.
engadget.com
· 2026-10-31
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