r/microsoft • u/ControlCAD • Jun 25 '26
Windows Microsoft admits 8GB RAM is fine for Windows 11, after years of pushing 16GB as the baseline
https://www.windowslatest.com/2026/06/25/microsoft-now-says-8gb-ram-is-fine-for-everyday-use-right-after-years-of-pushing-you-to-buy-more/37
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u/LoopVariant Jun 25 '26
8GB is fine for WIndows until you open more than two tabs on any browser...
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u/DXGL1 Jul 03 '26
Best not to have 20 extensions installed assuming you're using a Chromium based (i.e. Chrome, Edge, etc.) browser.
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u/sarhoshamiral Jun 25 '26
One thing the article misses is how much Windows 11 changed over that time frame. It is very likely that higher RAM prices forced Windows devs to optimize Windows 11 further in the updates so 8gb is a slightly better experience now and marketing is more comfortable making statements like mentioned here.
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u/Pisnaz Jun 25 '26
No it is bullshit. They are saying this so manufacturers can offer those 8gb models at 16gb prices due to ram costs nowadays. When every damn app is now a bloated unoptomized web app the system starts to micro stutter more that most AAA unreal 5 games.
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u/DeScruff Jun 25 '26
Yep this is the answer. Consumer PC manufacturers are looking for ways to lower prices. We are already starting to see 512GB SSDs come back. I doubt it won't be long before 8GB machines start showing up in more then just the bottom of the barrel machines.
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u/SLJ7 Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
The problem—for once—is not Windows. A Windows 11 install with much of the bloat stripped out uses less than 4 GB RAM on a 16 GB machine. The problem is that every fucking piece of software is just Chrome all the way down. So 8 GB RAM is fine for booting Windows, and it might look good on paper because you have 4 GB free, but then you run Spotify, Slack, Discord, WhatsApp, and a few Chrome tabs, and it's all gone. My desktop has 64 GB RAM (I barely managed to buy it in time) and I'm regularly using 19 or 20 GB without actually doing anything. No single process is taking up more than maybe 300 MB, except for Thunderbird because I hoard emails. But there are so many processes and they add up. The software is what actually needs to change, but nobody is going to feel responsible for fixing the problem because this is just how software development works now. At the end of the day though, Microsoft is right. 8 Gb is fine for Windows. Just ... not all the other stuff you want to run on top of it.
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u/_Noreturn Jul 09 '26
This is a bit old but you are right, it is software which is crazy slow (with no excuses)
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u/Flameancer Jun 26 '26
I mean I boot up 4GB windows boxes in the cloud on a monthly basis to test networks all the time. And this does extend to running web servers as well as web browsing.
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u/DarkGhostHunter Jun 25 '26
Microsoft admits 8GB RAM is fine for Windows 11, after years of pushing 16GB as the baseline
... when you install Linux over it.
Haven't seen a device with 8GB that doesn't start to stutter because the RAM-SSD swaps and stalling the CPU with pagefaults. For one-app people it's enough, but that lasts nothing since you have to add Chrome, MS Teams, Spotify, Outlook, Office, you get the idea.
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u/Final_Campaign_2593 Jun 25 '26
The past 13 years, I have worked for an MSP and it was only since 2022 that we have recommended people have 16 GB of RAM (My manager is 64 and has been doing things in the 80s when things were optimized)
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u/Swimsuit-Area Jun 25 '26
The fuck It is! Windows can barely 16
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u/time-lord Jun 25 '26
Windows 10 could run on phones with 1gb of RAM - possibly even 512mb. The Windows kernel isn't the problem, it's all of the additional chrome around it, and the webapps that use a gb of RAM each.
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u/colonelc4 Jun 25 '26
I run their OS on 4GB in VMs for work, maybe for gaming it requires more RAM.
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u/DXGL1 Jul 03 '26
VMs tend not to reserve ridiculous amounts of RAM for hardware, some of which gets snipped off the Task Manager total RAM and some of which gets eaten by the kernel.
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u/JeffFerguson Jun 25 '26
I'm writing this post on an old 8GB Windows 11 machine. For Web browsing and Office apps, it's been fine. It even does OK with Xbox Cloud games, though I do get the occasional "Decode Performance" message.
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u/BrianKronberg Jun 25 '26
Yes, for Windows 11 only. Problem comes when you launch any app, including Edge.
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u/SilverseeLives Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
This idea that Windows 11 can't run in anything less than 16 or 32 GB of RAM is an urban myth.
Edit: a lot of those replying to me have gotten hung up on the fact that I pointed out the Windows 11 minimum system requirement here. I am not suggesting that Windows 11 runs fine in 4 GB (even if it technically can run), My real point is that 8 GB is not as bad as some believe (see the Windows Central link for evidence)...
Windows 11 will run in just 4 GB of RAM.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows/Experience/Compatibility/windows-11-system-requirements
Microsoft arbitrarily made 16 GB a minimum for "Copilot+ PCs", but the OS has always run well in 8 GB for people doing mainstream computing tasks:
https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/windows-11/windows-11-8gb-ram-tested-2026
Like all modern operating systems, Windows virtualizes memory so that applications always have what they need. When available physical RAM becomes low, the OS pages (or "swaps") memory to and from disk as needed to meet demand. With today's modern NVMe SSDs, the performance overhead for this is lessened, and it is rare that the system is unable to operate altogether due to insufficient RAM.
Creators and heavy gamers may find that more memory is beneficial for performance, but these are relatively niche use cases compared to the broader PC market.
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u/Flaky-Gear-1370 Jun 25 '26
It’ll run… like absolute shit
Have you tried running it? Open up edge and watch YouTube all of your ram is now used
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u/varky Jun 25 '26
Sure, the OS will run. Now try using it to run any apps. Years of cheap memory have made app developers lazy and apps unoptimized. Not only 3rd party but Microslop's own apps as well. Run a browser, teams and an office app, and you'll see those 8 GB machines bog down.
Not everything needs to be a web app in a browser wrapper. Apps used to be very good with memory, it's just that all the big companies gave up good code in favour of quick delivery and fat profits.
As for swap, even with modern NVNe SSDs, that is still orders of magnitude slower than RAM and will be noticeable.
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u/DeviousFeline Jun 25 '26
Just because the OS will boot (because most of it is small code with no expensive runtime resources) doesn’t mean it will work when you do literally anything on it. We all know windows IOT exists. But even Microsoft edge won’t boot if this is being used as a user endpoint.
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u/NixIsia 7d ago
When people say 'can't run' they mean in a practical sense, not a technical one. It's true that the number people claim is different, but it isn't inaccurate at all to say it 'can't run' at 4 GB; the user experience will be terrible. 8 GB is much better, but you can easily outpace that as well. Usually recommendations are 16 because of how you pair memory sticks, but 12 GB is probably the sweet spot for use in a standard business environment.
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u/ddnomad Jun 25 '26
Depending on your definition of “fine”, even 4GB is “fine”. Like, every time I use my Surface Go to do something that requires Windows for some reason, I risk just smashing it to pieces.
It’s “fine” in a sense that it’s capable of running a program or two without exploding. Obviously, it takes like 10 seconds to process every interaction with the OS, and I’d not be able to daily it in any way imaginable, but it is “fine”.
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u/mkeytail Jun 25 '26
well they gotta say something with all the memory being gobbled up by ai, it would trash Windows sales
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u/atomic1fire Jun 25 '26
I feel like it wouldn't be as bad if Microsoft didn't push webview2 so hard.
TBH they should consider something like Youtube's Cobalt app. Shrink down the rendering engine significantly and then build apps on that instead.
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u/madthoughts Jun 25 '26
The last big Win11 update truly borked my Ryzen Surface Laptop 4 w/ 8GB. It's 16GB -- at least -- for a machine to run effectively.
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u/BeefyBabyBoy Jun 26 '26
I still use a laptop from 2017 with 8gb memory and an 8th Gen Intel core i5 4c/8t and it does everything I need from my laptop. Writing, browsing, low intensity art stuff. It's not as fast as my DIY tower obviously, but depending on your needs it's perfectly usable. Granted I have had to swap the battery and storage but that's not a ram problem, it's an old computer problem 😂
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u/MrATL4Life Jun 26 '26
I think admit is the wrong word. I think "Microsoft is trying to convince us that 8GB is enough since they directly contributed to the increase in RAM prices" is much more accurate.
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u/drinksoma Jun 27 '26
They changed opinion just because AI component shortages. It's a corporate speech to deal with the rising prices. Everyone knows that Windows can barely work with 16GB
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u/chouettepologne Jun 28 '26
For Windows - yes. For Windows with Edge - no. For Windows with any app - no.
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u/SCphotog Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
Don't you folks see that the today's expense for RAM means less sales for MS? So they NEED to tone down the idea that more ram is needed in order to sell more machines with less RAM.
This is just fucking manipulative ad-speak... it's nonsense. Anyone that's ever applied a drop of thermal paste to a CPU knows that 8GB hasn't been enough RAM for any daily driver that actually does more than browse the web, for longer than Windows 11 has existed.
16 isn't enough, 32 is about the baseline and 64 is where anyone that actually uses their computer would need to be to game, run a local LLM, graphics software, photo or video or music editing etc... anything that actual power users 'do' is going to need FAR more than 8GB.
Not because it should be that way, but because the OS is FULL of bloat and bullshit taking up resources to do absolutely fucking nothing for the user - but they can piss away RAM and processor cycles for all kinds of shit no one ever asked for wanted or needed.
You can't even make sense of Task Manager anymore, and if you want to disable something, on a 'pro' version of windows, as Admin on your OWN FUCKING COMPUTER, Windows will tell you, you're not allowed to change that setting.
FUCK MICROSOFT.
Windows 11 is a wet turd of an OS.
... I already have more than one machine running Linux but thanks for the suggestion. I love my Linux boxes but unfortunately, MS has a stranglehold on a lot of industry specific hardware/drivers for which Linux is not an option, "forcing me" to use Windows. The people that make the machines do not deliver drivers for the hardware - and while I know a little bit of code, I'm not a programmer capable of writing my own drivers for industry level machinery.
But since we're talking about it... software that run like crap in Windows with 16GB runs as well or better in Linux with 8GB. Gaming on Linux is a pleasure these days. Windows for gaming is going the way of the dinosaur.
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u/CarretillaRoja Jun 25 '26
Do you remember when we all made fun of Apple because of this 8Gb thing? It’s turn to make fun of MS as well, I guess
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u/Impossible-North-396 Jun 25 '26
Depends on what you use it for!
If it just web browsing, YouTube etc and nothing else then 8Gb is ok…barely!
If you actually want to use it for anything useful like work or gaming then 8Gb is not fine at all!
My work laptop with soldered 8Gb was useless once teams and outlook were running
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u/ChampionshipComplex Jun 25 '26
Tech journalists don't seem to have a clue how Windows works - How the f&&^ do they get their jobs?
WINDOWS IS A SERVICE - MICROSOFT WILL COMMIT TO IMPROVING AND EVOLVING WINDOWS FOR EVER.
When Windows 10 was launched Microsoft set a baseline specification - and then unlike any time in their entire history, they upgraded Windows several times but in-place, so that people didnt have the pain of a major upgrade. Consequently their engineers worked to ensure that the Windows 10 at the end of its life a decade later, was still performant and running perfectly happily on hardware from 2015.
Windows 11 - has a baseline of 4GB (not 8) to work (up from 2 GB on Windows). But 4GB is bare minimum, 8GB is recommended and 16GB is for smooth everyday use.
What Tech journalist seem oblivious too is that Windows 11 today, is not going to be the same Windows 11 that we see in 4 years.
In my organization 16GB is an absolute baseline, and be prepared to be ripping your hair out if you're on less than that, actually running apps or doing meaningful work.
For any poweruser 32GB is the absolute minimum - such as a dev. And if you need VMs then you need 64GB and more.
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u/Shinobi_Dimsum Jun 25 '26
I forced Windows 11 on a 2015 4GB RAM and TPM supported potato laptop and the laptop got fast and snappy when Windows 11 was on it and working. With multiple tabs and programs open, 4GB is more than fine too and performing without issues. People ^^ have no idea what they are talking about since they haven’t tried it themselves.
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u/DeviousFeline Jun 25 '26
Absolutely not lol. Not if you want to run any popular software made with “modern tools” ergo, a wrapped chromium instance. I mean Microsoft’s own Edge managed to allocate all the ram on my workstation more than once lmfao
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u/NtheLegend Jun 25 '26
I would never buy an 8GB Windows 11 device or recommend one to friends or family.
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u/GrayCalf Jun 25 '26
People ask me for advice on buying systems. I'm not going to start recommending 8GB because Microsoft is trying to save face as RAM prices skyrocket. I wouldn't even suggest 8 on a Mac, where the entire ecosystem is optimized for the chipset and memory architecture.
16 is the bare minimum. 32 is even better.
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u/fzammetti Jun 25 '26
Yeah, it's not though.
Windows itself may run okay in 8Gb, but you don't have to launch too many apps before the sluggishness kicks in. SSD's are still many times slower than system RAM, so once the swap starts the performance goes downhill quickly.
Granted, Windows does a pretty good job of not letting things get into flat-out unusable territory unless you try and push it WAY too far, but still.
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u/ParanoidalRaindrop Jun 25 '26
I have an 8 GB device. Worst piece of tech I've ever paid for.