Ex-Microsoft veteran calls out Windows 11's "comically bad" performance, 'unfinished' state

One of the biggest gripes about Windows 11 that users have had is the stringent system requirements Microsoft introduced. The company reasoned that it had to do with improving the OS security, though, this does not mean that your system is entirely safe as even the firmware maker's logo can pose a threat, and the mandatory requirements like Secure Boot are of no use.

Since the officially supported processors were fairly modern, people were generally expecting decent performance out of their Windows 11 PCs. Although an SSD is not a requirement, most systems have one nowadays; and you can not blame the users' expectations here either as Microsoft itself had claimed that's what Windows 11 was designed to do.

However, despite all this, users have continued to complain about how their Windows PC just does not feel fast enough even on relatively powerful systems. As such, many have resorted to make the switch to Linux, which is receiving a massive AES encryption performance boost, or using tweaked Windows 11 versions like AtlasOS.

Former Microsoft engineer Andy Young is one of those who have noticed the slow and laggy nature of Windows 11 and decided to call out the Redmond giant. Young remarks he has a $1600 Intel Core i9 PC with 128 GB system memory, and yet the Start menu's performance is "comically bad."

Young later clarified that he does not hate Windows as he had helped build parts of it during his time at the company. However, he feels Windows 11 in its current state is unfinished.

One of the reasons for such performance may have to do with the ads and promotions Windows 11 has via its Recommended section. The company is currently contemplating adding a dedicated button for that.

It is hard to say at this point if the upcoming version, 24H2, will be any better. The Insider builds still exhibit performance issues as highlighted (below) by Windows Insider and enthusiast Albacore, even though it apparently is part of the version 24H2 RTM branch.

Interestingly enough, users and enthusiasts have found ways to fix such performance problems with simple tweaks, and sometimes even a bug has helped boost the performance. Meanwhile, a Registry tweak can aid in making the Windows 11 File Explorer load large files quicker.