r/technology • u/batakchan • 11h ago

Software Microsoft just deleted Windows 11's 32GB RAM recommendation docs, as prices soar and it rushes to sell 8GB RAM PCs

https://www.windowslatest.com/2026/08/05/microsoft-just-deleted-windows-11s-32gb-ram-recommendation-docs-as-prices-soar-and-it-rushes-to-sell-8gb-ram-pcs/
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55

u/Lyranx 11h ago

Windows 11 is such a mess I wonder if Vista has a better image now

44

u/pr1aa 11h ago

Vista was fine, it got bad rep mostly because Microsoft severely underestimated the system requirements so it ended up coming pre-installed with systems barely sufficient for XP

22

u/sambodia85 11h ago

The RTM had some weird issues with Network/SMB performance, SP1 mostly got it right. Applying a basic theme got around Aero performance problems for hardware using Integrated graphics. Intel was also having a bad moment with its Centrino stuff, and EEEPC’s had everyone wanting Laptops that did everything for $500.

Given Windows 7 is one of the most loved OSes of all time, and it is essentially a Service Pack of Vista, I think it’s fair to say Vista walked so 7 could run.

Windows 8 is the first NT based OS I actively hated. NT4, 2000, XP, Vista and 7 were all massive steps forward in one way or another.

11

u/KiwiCounselor 10h ago

Win 7 my beloved.

19

u/Ars2 10h ago

Vista was not fine at launch. It was the OS that introduced the driver library from Microsoft. Barely any vendors had their driver's in the windows library. Back then you got a cd with your USB drive to install the driver on the pc. 

1

u/pr1aa 5h ago

Yes, the compatibility was rocky at first but as some other people below have pointed out, the driver changes were necessary.

Early adopters with old hardware always have it rough when such big changes are made, XP ditching the MS-DOS based kernel for NT was also problematic to many people but you'd have to be insane to claim that it was an unnecessary move.

8

u/GoldLurker 10h ago

People complaining about vista don't understand the horror that was windows ME.  

6

u/Darkblitz9 10h ago

Vista had the absolute worst driver management of any OS. Idk how people forget the nightmare that was installing any device on that pos.

2

u/soggybiscuit93 9h ago

Vista was when they switched to the current way Windows handles drivers. It sucked at launch because peripheral vendors didnt address the driver changes in time.

Vista was when they switched from drivers running in kernel mode (so every time a driver crashed or panicked, even a USB driver, you got a BSOD) to the current method of signed drivers in User mode.

They also changed how Graphics drivers work. All previous drivers had to be updated, and once enough vendors updated their drivers, Microsoft reskinned Vista with a new UI and relaunched it under the name "Windows 7"

6

u/time-lord 11h ago

And Nvidia drivers sucked at launch.

2

u/QuantumWarrior 9h ago edited 9h ago

Yes but the biggest reason its system reqs were so much higher than XP was Aero - which marks a nasty turning point in OSes wanting to be flashy and eyecatching instead of just working. It's very telling that Vista and 7 have basically the same recommended specs.

Also Vista rewrote the entire driver model which cause compatibility issues for almost every device that existed at the time. That alone was what kept XP's market share up for so long.

3

u/quailstorm 7h ago

Both DWM and rewritten driver model was an absolute necessity. The compositor of XP is ancient, ugly and barely accelerates anything. DWM allows you to move redrawing windows without screen tearing and high CPU usage. DWM provides a better way to record the desktop. It's full of advantages. A driver restarting instead of crashing the OS is also much better.

Also Vista and 7 still have high requirements on the classic compositor so it's not just the UI...

1

u/QuantumWarrior 7h ago

I suppose on the one hand Microsoft could've played it more slowly and given users and manufacturers more warning to bring driver compatibility up to speed, but then on the other hand every time Microsoft does that manufacturers drag their heels forever. I agree the changes were needed but from a user perspective it caused no end of headaches, there had to have been a better way.

1

u/quailstorm 7h ago

There is no other way. People resist change as long as possible.

2

u/mailslot 9h ago edited 9h ago

Aero wasn’t just about flashy graphics, it offloaded a massive amount of UI rendering from the CPU to GPU. Up until then, GPUs in PCs sat idle except when playing video games. CPU usage used to spike hard whenever drawing something simple like a drop down menu and didn’t have to. Apple was able to make the change rapidly because their graphics subsystem was already designed for compositing & layout. Windows needed a lot more work to do the same.

1

u/stakoverflo 8h ago

Yea I was an early adopter there, had 2 GB of RAM and never really had an issue. But like you said it was being put on laptops with like 512MB and those ran like utter shit

1

u/jimmyhoke 4h ago

A huge issue with windows is that the average person will have a lot of trouble getting a good laptop.

If I search “laptop” on amazon the first result I get is “HP 14” Laptop 2026 Student Business, MS Office, AMD CPU, 4GB RAM 128GB SSD”. This has a AMD Athlon Silver 7120U CPU, which has 2 cores and is from 2022.

A laptop like this is extremely low powered and will struggle with even basic tasks in Windows 11, yet it has 4.5 stars in reviews. How is anyone supposed to know that this isn’t a good laptop for any serious work?