Why is your computer running like a dog? (A slow dog, that is. Not a greyhound or one of those dogs that likes to herd sheep.) Ask a technically inclined friend and they might suggest a RAM upgrade or a speedier storage drive. Ask your computer and it might suggest the same thing, at least after a future update comes to Windows 11.
Phantom of Earth tried out the newest developer build of Windows 11 and spotted a new FAQ section in the Settings app under the About menu. It’s hidden by default, currently only visible with some command line inputs, but it looks fairly straightforward.
In one screenshot, in response to the suggested question “Is my GPU sufficient for high end gaming and video experience?” [sic], the section suggests getting a discrete graphics card with more than 4GB of RAM. It also says that 4-8GB of RAM is only good enough for “basic tasks like web browsing, document editing, and emailing.” (For reference, the virtual machine PC in the screenshot has 6GB.)
Microsoft hasn’t said anything about this new FAQ, but as The Verge notes, it wouldn’t be the first time that Windows itself evaluated the machine it was running on for the benefit of the user. The Windows Experience Index is no longer used, but it used to give your PC a 1-6 score for performance back in the Vista days. This advice is a little more actionable, and surprisingly doesn’t outright suggest buying a new computer. (No, Windows’ built-in advertising should handle that.)
It’s possible that the next big yearly Windows update will include the new FAQ section. And it’s just as possible that it won’t. Or that this info will only appear when it detects that your hardware is a little pokey. We’ll have to see how Microsoft is feeling in the latter half of the year, and if it shows up already enabled in Windows Insider builds before then.
Further reading: I made a ‘paranoid PC’ to dodge hackers. Its secret? An obscure Windows feature
