Can Windows 11 utilize less or similar memory as Ubuntu 21.04?

Question

Hi,

I installed Windows 11 and Ubuntu 21.04 as Guest OS on VMware Workstation.

Windows 11 is installed with Memory: 4GB, Processors cores: 2 and HD: 80GB.

Ubuntu 21.04 is installed with Memory: 2GB, Processors cores: 2 and HD: 20GB.

Host OS is Windows 10.

At host OS, memory utilization when Windows 11 is turned on, is 72% and memory utilization when Ubuntu is turned on, is 55%.

At both Guest OS, no other applications are installed but because of Windows 11 memory utilization is higher than Ubuntu 21.04.

Can Windows utilize less or similar memory as Ubuntu?

With Regards
NndnG

Answer 1

4GB is the minimal for Windows 11, so it is impossible to ask it to run with 2GB.

Answer 2

Starting around Win Vista MS changed how the OS uses virtual memory. On older OSes where memory was tight the OS was aggressive in moving stuff to the paging file when not needed. The net result was more available memory for applications at the cost of having to page to/from disk. So on the older OSes memory utilization was generally lower. In the newer OSes where machines have far more GB of memory the OS has switched to being less aggressive with paging. Hence it keeps more stuff in memory rather than wasting the time paging it out (until needed). Thus on newer OSes you will see memory utilization is higher and apps are more responsive when swapping from background to foreground. Additionally, to make it look more responsive, the OS also tries to pre-fetch some things before you need them. This is formally known as Superfetch and can be disabled if desired although there should be no reason to do so.

The memory utilization can be a useful measurement of your system but it is not incredibly useful in determining the general stability these days. My machine, which has been running for days, hovers between 70 and 80% at all times even though I have a couple instances of Visual Studio open, multiple browser apps and tabs, SQL Server running and miscellaneous other apps. The OS is still going to page things out when memory gets tight but the sweet spot has generally been to be around 80-85% of memory. If you go above that regularly then you probably need more memory. Anything less than that and you aren't using all the memory you have available.

Answer 3

If possible try setup the VM using Hyper-V instead of VMware and see if you are observing the same experience.
Try update the Windows 11.
Check Task Manager and see what applications taking too much memory.
Sometimes when you install Windows for the first time, it will perform process and you might observe performance issue and then it will reduce memory usage.