this post was submitted on 12 Feb 2026
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Im on Linux and it requires just as much memory as it did in 2018. No problem here.
I upgraded mine from 16GB to 32GB two years ago beacuse RAM was cheap. I didn't really need it, and have probably never hit 16GB usage anyway.
Meanwhile my work Windows laptop uses 16GB at idle after first login.
Windows has always been wasteful computing, and everyone just pays for it.
Seems like you (or your company) installed loads of bloat.
You do know you can disable programs from starting during boot, right?
Requiring less RAM is good, but conceptually, it's Linux that is "wasting" the RAM by never using it. It's there, and it's reusable, fill it up! Now, does Windows make good use of it? No idea. Wouldn't bet on it, but I could be surprised.
Linux uses "free" ram for caching, so it's not really wasted.
Storing data in ram isn’t wasteful though, I have a lot of criticisms of windows but the memory management isn’t one of them. I’d rather have as much predictive content be staged in ram as possible as long as it’s readily dumped out of I go to do something else, which is my experience. Like I don’t earn interest for having unused RAM on my computers (for reference I have an endeavorOS, rhel, fedora, and windows computers under my desk connected to a dual monitor kvm right now; it isn’t like I don’t regularly use/prefer Linux; I mostly access my windows machine via rustesk for work related stuff I don’t feel like having to dick with on Linux like the purchase order system and Timecard system), I just don’t get this critique.
I wish I had a 32gb ram laptop.
I can have 3 development IDEs open at once, and with all the browser tabs open and a few other programs here and there its stretching the limits on my Mac.
I have 32GB on my Windows PC laptop it can't do three at once.
Running the backend (java) and the frontend (react native) in intellij uses 29GB RAM, so I must run Android on real hardware over ADB+USB. Running an android simulator pushes it over the edge.
Also: Laptops are shit. On Windows, the tau is so bad that the cores are throttled straight after boot because the cooling is rubbish. It almost never hits full speed. It can't survive more than 40 minutes on a full battery. It might as well be a NUC.
What does Windows have to do with cooling? That is a hardware problem.
You'd have the same issues if you installed Arch on it.
Stop blaming Windows for all your problems.
That's the reason I have not bought a new laptop in years. Everything must be as thin as possible because apple did it. Fuck that. I want my laptop as thick as a brick to have enough cooling for CPU, GPU and a 6l V8 engine, and a battery that will outlast the sun!
Does Clevo still make the fat laptops? My last was one of theirs and it was almost as thick as my fore arm. It also weighed a ton but on the plus side insanely easy disassembly. I probably should've got another one, my MSI is shit to open
Ya, macs are definitely more efficient with their ram.
I'll have Android Studio open for my main work, Intellij Idea for all the backend work, and Xcode when I need to tweak some iPhone things. (edit: usually it's just 2 of the 3, but sometimes its all 3)
I also mainly use real devices for testing,and opening emulators if all 3 are open can be a problem, and it's so annoying opening and closing things.
Empty ram is inherently wasteful.
Linux doesn't waste RAM. All unused RAM becomes a disk read cache, but remains available on demand.
Cool, so the thing you stated wasn’t what happened, and you’re correcting me for not fact checking your comment.