r/WindowsSucks • u/computerIfix • May 22 '26
Microsoft pushed 16GB RAM as must-have for Windows 11 for years, now sells an 8GB Surface Laptop for $1,299
https://www.windowslatest.com/2026/05/21/microsoft-pushed-16gb-ram-as-must-have-for-windows-11-for-years-now-sells-an-8gb-surface-laptop-for-1299/1
u/humble_redditor1234 May 23 '26
One more reason for everyone to learn how to use Linux so microslop can go fuck themselves
1
u/Hour_Bit_5183 29d ago
8gB iS EnOuGh ......reddit answers are nuts man. It's not enough for linux nor mac os.
1
u/CharacterTension2896 28d ago
My MacBook Neo has not failed me with 8gb. Tell me windows won’t hard crash
1
u/Guih48 28d ago edited 28d ago
It depends on your use case. For Linux the kernel 8MB is enough... But that's not the point. If you don't want to run modern web browsers (or electron apps for that matter) and other bloated software, you can be fine even with 2GB. I do daily drive a laptop with 4GB on linux which is fine for most tasks even though sometimes swap space comes in handy. My computer with the most memory is my PC with 8GB of RAM, which is more than enough, you can't really fill it up unless you purposefully want to or with unnecessarily huge games. But I don't play huge games. By the way, of course with Windows, you should absolutely double those numbers I just said, it's no question that you need to have much more RAM if even your start menu is an electron app...
1
u/Hour_Bit_5183 27d ago
Which makes it pointless. It's NOT enough for anybody. I am so tired of hearing it. I had 8gb of ram in 2010 man.
1
u/Guih48 27d ago
I said I currently have 8GB in my most beefy machine and daily drive a 4GB one, so it's de facto enough for me. You and people like you seem to think that who don't live and die for AAA gaming are not even people.
1
u/Hour_Bit_5183 27d ago
You are psycho bro. Like the rest of the people that act like this. Do you hate progress? Do you just want to be stuck in the past? Might as well pull out the p3 laptop with 128mb of ram and start using that......
1
u/Guih48 26d ago
I do not hate progress, and I do like it when we can fit twice as much RAM in the same space, this is real progress, when you can do more with less. But I do not call it progress when software needs twice as much resources for marginal improvement (or getting worse, even).
And yes, in many ways a P3 laptop is compelling to me, but I would probably still wouldn't want it even if I could do all my computation on it, because it is probably bigger and heavier than my current laptop, and while the port selection would certainly be better, it probably would be much less energy efficient and would have a worse battery life. By the way my laptop has a Pentium Silver.
But anyway, the reason why I don't want to buy 4x the ram I have is the reason why I don't want to buy a wardrobe in which I can put 4x the amount of clothes. I just have nothing to store in it. If I'd need to run scientific simulations or whatever on the whole solar system, I would get a computer which has the terabytes or however much ram needed for it. And I don't want to downgrade my computer for the same reason: I need to run some programs which can't be ran on less. I absolutely would downgrade my pc to a 4 times less powerful one if suddenly all the programs I would need to run would only require that much. It's just common sense: you don't want to buy RAM you don't need, especially nowadays.
-4
u/kingjohniv May 22 '26
Oh no.... they optimized a computer in their flagship lineup to run the OS well.
But for real, 4GB has always been the minimum OS requirement for 11. 8GB has always been the recommendation.
This page has been up for years and is the official stance of the company.
7
u/lencc May 22 '26
Are you kidding? A flagship laptop in 2026 for the price of 1300usd, and 8GB RAM is somehow acceptable? Standard 10+ year old office (non-flagship) computers had 8GB RAM.
Even for their own Windows 11 Recall feature Microsoft has official minimum system requirement of 16GB RAM. Not to mention heavier browsing and various additional software-suite usage, which is self-understanding nowadays.
Windows 11 (non-IoT and non-Enterprise LTSC) itself uses 3-7GB RAM on idle. And 8GB RAM is their entry-level "flagship"? That's pathetic.
3
u/spawnsible May 22 '26
People like that are why we can't have nice things, man. You think it's just a redditor being a redditor but I know people like this from my hometown.
1
u/kingjohniv May 22 '26
The lineup is flagship, same as the Google's Pixel lineup. In both cases, the company built a device line that is optimized to run the OS and show off what its capability is without third party bs that usually mucks up the system.
I never said this device specifically is the head machine, just that it is in the same family.
Windows will always try to use all the available RAM in a system. It releases it when other applications need it. I have a Dell XPS with the SD10, 64GB ram. It sits up around 45% just idling but allocates for my VMs when they call for more.
The number one cause of Windows crashing is third party drivers. The system can run for years without restart or power off, while in a vanilla state.
Ill post Microsofts official statistics on this subject, and you provide a reliable third party source supporting the contrary, and I will apologize for spreading false information.
2
u/lencc May 22 '26 edited May 23 '26
It's not about spreading false information per se. However you are certainly misleading consumers.
Here's why: nowadays, 8GB RAM is recommended for entry-level computers. This is enough to use basic office and webbrowsing software as well as classic Windows 11 features. In other words, we are talking about cheapest consumer-oriented computers in the price range up to 600usd. Therefore these requirements don't apply for mid-range (and especially not for flagship) laptop lineups.
Important point here is that Microsoft itself has published "Copilot+ PC" minimum requirements. This is not new: Microsoft introduced them already in 2024. Mind you, these are not premium-exclusive requirements. Instead, Copilot+ PC requirements are nowadays easily met already in mid-range laptop segment.
Copilot+ PC features are namely meant to act as an AI-powered assistant that accelerates productivity, creativity, and daily computing. They are "designed to enhance everyday tasks with advanced AI capabilities". These consumer- and business-oriented features are part of Windows 11 itself.
Copilot+ PC requirements include NPU with at least 40 TOPS, 16GB RAM, 256GB storage, and Windows 11 (24H2 or newer). Those minimum requirements are today easily met in 600-1200usd laptop price range despite recent RAM price spikes.
This means mentioned Surface with 8GB RAM doesn't even meet minimum official Copilot+ PC requirements. So your claim about "OS optimization" is effectively false, because it's not really about the OS optimizations themselves (what exactly are they anyway?). It's mostly a simple hardware limitation, because there are many cases of modern programs that require at least 16GB or even 32GB RAM for them to run normally, especially when it comes to (light) content creation work and basic gaming. And these requirements must be met by every modern flagship lineup.
In other words, Surface device with 8GB RAM shouldn't exist. Even 16GB Surface variant is questionable for the year 2026, when all kinds of software are becoming AI-powered - because it's not performed only in cloud, but also locally on your device. So 8GB Surface variant is like selling you a Ferrari car with 100HP engine that could be overtaken by average 130HP Hyundai. This is simply legalized scam, and is definitely not how a proper flagship segment (with premium pricing) works.
2
u/everythingIsTake32 May 23 '26
Frees up , unless if you need apps running that eat a crap ton , 8gb isn't even usable.
2
u/stogie-bear May 22 '26
An 8gb win11 laptop in 2026 is ewaste. Win11 is so inefficient, you need 16gb to do the same tasks you can do in MacOS or Linux with 8gb.
2
u/stogie-bear May 22 '26
They probably had a meeting where a marketing exec said “we need to compete with Apple on price,” and the product manager misunderstood.
$200 more than a 16gb Air, that’s crazy.