Windows 11 Might Passively Remind You Your Computer Sucks

Windows 11 was the first time in a while Microsoft increased the minimum requirements for its OS, but you probably still shouldn’t use Windows 11 on a PC that barely meets the requirements. If your computer is slow because of entry-level specs, Windows 11 might soon make sure you’re at least aware of the fact.

Microsoft is reportedly developing a new feature for Windows 11 that aims to provide users with clearer explanations about how their PC’s hardware, specifically RAM and GPU, impacts overall performance. This is basically a frequently asked questions (FAQ) section within the system settings—the feature itself is not live yet and it’s currently hidden away in Dev builds, but if it’s there, it’s because it’s something Microsoft is at least thinking of adding.

The FAQ offers insights into how limited system RAM can affect a PC’s performance and might maybe be leading to slowdowns and sluggishness, and it may also offer suggestions for users experiencing these issues. It also goes over the impact of GPU memory, particularly in systems with less than 4GB of VRAM. The FAQ may explain how insufficient GPU memory can hinder graphics-intensive tasks such as gaming and video editing. It’s not clear yet if a final version of this will pop up for everyone or just for users who have a specific amount of RAM (below 8GB) or VRAM (below 4GB). If it’s the latter, it would effectively serve as a passive-aggressive reminder that you might want to upgrade your system memory or graphics memory if you want to improve your performance. Or in short, a reminder that yes, your computer sucks.

This would not be the very first time Windows has rolled out a feature that makes you feel overly conscious about your PC’s specifications—we also had the Windows Experience Index back in the day. Introduced with Windows Vista, this tool used to provide folks with a numerical score that rated the performance of individual system components, such as the CPU, RAM, and graphics card. These subscores were then combined to provide an overall score, that would give you a general idea of your PC’s capabilities and its ability to run the latest software.

This system received occasional criticism since it didn’t really provide an accurate insight into your PC’s performance and capabilities, and since it was basically a redundant number that wasn’t too useful by itself, it was killed off in Windows 8.1 back in 2013. If this feature works by making the questions and answers pop up and change depending on a user’s system specs, it can probably be a more useful system than the Experience Index ever was.

Instead of just giving you a score, it can just point out potential issues with your PC’s hardware that might be resulting in performance issues. It’s way better than just throwing users a vague score number without a real meaning, and it actually lets you know what you might want to improve to increase your performance. It’s kind of shaming, but it could provide some good insights for some users.

We don’t know when, or if, this will land on final versions of Windows 11 soon down the road. This popped up in a Dev build, and it was hidden away, so it’s not even something most people can try out at this time.

Source: phantomofearth (Bluesky) via The Verge