this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2026
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Windows will use 5-9gb just to run. Most linuxes use 1-2GB for the heaviest desktops, and around 450-650MB for the lightest desktops. Memory usage is much more efficient under Linux nowadays.
My work laptop which unfortunately requires Windows is sitting at 13.7GB in use just for teams, Outlook, and 16 chrome tabs. In the next couple years I can see 24GB becoming the minimum recommended spec for Windows
It’s going to be interesting to watch how Windows progresses. It runs so fat because memory costs dropped so consistently for so long. Microsoft didn’t need to worry about efficiency and it clearly wasn’t an organizational priority. But the engineers at Microsoft aren’t stupid. If Microsoft shifts toward efficiency as a goal, given enough time, they could make a slimmer version of the OS. I’m interested in seeing to what degree they do prioritize it.
Your figure likely doesn’t account for SysMain (Superfetch) making use of what would otherwise be empty (“wasted”) RAM to predict what applications the user is likely to open and keep it preloaded to optimize speed.
Try disabling the SysMain service and restarting the system to get a sense of what your actual memory pressure would like.
I’m currently looking at a clean install of Windows 11 + drivers, fully up to date, sitting at 3.2GB utilization on a 16GB system.
Your figure likely doesn’t account for SysMain (Superfetch) making use of what would otherwise be empty (“wasted”) RAM to predict what applications the user is likely to open and keep it preloaded to optimize speed.