1 If Microsoft really wants to reduce RAM usage, they could start by removing their dumb AI integration everywhere: that background code costs both CPU time and RAM while it's running, and it's not useful for most people most of the time.

... Huh. https://blogs.windows.com/windows-insider/2026/05/01/windows-quality-update-progress-weve-made-since-march/ ay they're "reduc[ing] where Copilot shows up across Windows, focusing on bringing AI where it’s most valuable."

The next thing they could do is remove those stupid ads from the Start menu, and turn it back into an actual list of programs. Integrated search can stay, it wasn't horrible to click "Start", type "fi" and get Firefox auto-selected so that pressing Enter launched it. But all those Xbox Live (and so on) squares in the menu? They do nothing for 99% of users except consume small amounts of RAM, and CPU/GPU to display their silly animations. Really small amounts, but it does add up to non-trivial amounts when there's a couple dozen of them.

... Welp. https://blogs.windows.com/windows-insider/2026/07/13/improving-windows-search-box-with-less-clutter-and-more-control/ says "Promotional content has been removed from web results" and the search results are also looking cleaner.

Linux is still the best choice for RAM-constrained systems, though: most Linux distros give you so much more control over your own computer than Windows does. But it seems that at least some of Microsoft's recent changes aren't totally boneheaded. Some.