Windows 11 can now keep up to 2GB more of your active data in memory instead of moving it to slower storage, Microsoft says. The company says that makes an especially big difference on PCs with 8GB of RAM, keeping them responsive as you open more apps and browser tabs.
SSD storage – while fast – is still slower than RAM, so pulling that data back takes time. With more of it kept in RAM, an app or tab you left open should come back quicker.
That’s not bad. The memory crunch has made RAM expensive this year, so we’d rather Windows made better use of the RAM you have than send you shopping for more.
Microsoft is also cutting what runs in the background. On PCs with 8GB of memory or less, Widgets now load only when you open them, which Microsoft says frees more than 200MB for your apps. So the Widgets you never open stop costing you RAM.
Search, Start and File Explorer should feel faster, too. Microsoft claims Windows is up to 20% more responsive across those, right-click menus, Settings and Snipping Tool.
The post names no version or KB number. Its footnote compares build 26300.9550 with 26200.7628, which Microsoft’s release page shows are a September preview update for version 26H2 and a January out-of-band update for 25H2. So that 20% covers eight months of updates and a new version, not one patch.
The new Windows Search is for Windows Insiders only for now. It adds Actions, so searching for dark mode or night light lets you switch it on right from the results. Microsoft says it will roll out more broadly later this year.
For games, Advanced Shader Delivery sends precompiled shaders for supported titles like Forza Horizon 6 and Gears of War: E-Day, which Microsoft says then load in seconds instead of minutes. For the best results, install the Xbox PC app before you download the game.
With a supported Android phone, Windows 11 can now open your phone’s apps in separate, resizable windows on the desktop. File Explorer can browse the phone’s files, too.
Microsoft’s release page lists build 26300.9711, from the October 13th security update, as the newest build of version 26H2.
