Microsoft reports that Windows 11 on 8GB PCs is now up to 20% more responsive and that multitasking is up to 40% faster in its lab test. The figures come from a Windows Experience Blog post by Pavan Davuluri, executive vice president of Windows and Devices, published November 3. The latest improvements need Windows 11 version 26H2, build 26300.9818 or later, installed through Settings, Windows Update.
The 40% multitasking gain was measured in one scenario on one laptop
Microsoft’s multitasking scenario opens 20 Edge tabs, a 4K video, large Word, PowerPoint and Excel files, Outlook and File Explorer one after another and keeps everything open. According to the post’s footnotes, Microsoft ran it on an HP OmniBook 3 with 8GB of memory and a Snapdragon X Plus 8-core processor, comparing build 26200.7623 with build 26200.9445 on the same device, and describes the result as specific to that scenario and not a benchmark. So the figure covers one laptop on a fixed workflow, and the post gives no result for any other 8GB machine.
Microsoft’s responsiveness number has a different basis: Start, search, right-click, Settings, Snipping Tool and File Explorer respond up to 20% faster in its telemetry from 8GB PCs, compared with the January 2026 update. It adds that Edge can open up to 33% faster from a link or from Start because Windows connects to an instance already running in the background, which needs build 26300.9818 and Edge 150 or later.
Windows now keeps up to 2GB more active data in memory on 8GB PCs by tuning how it compresses
The memory change Microsoft describes in most detail is compression. Windows has used it for years, and Microsoft says it has retuned how much to compress, when to page to storage and when to fetch data back for 8GB machines. The result, in its words, is up to 2 GB more active data kept in memory, so an app or tab left open is less likely to reload. Windows also puts the work you ask for first and backs off background tasks such as search indexing while you are active.
Microsoft credits its Microsoft 365 apps with 360 MB of memory savings in its multitasking tests
Changes across Windows, Edge and Microsoft 365 reduce committed-memory growth in Microsoft’s multitasking tests on 8GB PCs. Improvements in Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook account for 360 MB of the savings. Two defaults changed as well: on PCs with 8GB or less, Widgets now loads only when opened, reducing memory commitment by roughly 200 MB while it is closed, and Edge puts inactive tabs to sleep after 15 minutes instead of two hours. Teams can switch on Efficiency Mode by default on 8GB machines and launch up to 20% faster.
The post lists further work for the coming months, including a shared web engine for Search and Widgets and a shared one for OneDrive and Photos, and tuning of how much memory PC makers reserve for hardware, but gives no dates for any of it.