When it comes to performance, it’s hard to find users who are completely satisfied with Windows 11. Many believe it’s filled with unnecessary features that are difficult to disable.
According to a recent test by YouTuber TrigzZolt, Windows 11 might actually be the slowest version of Windows released in the past 25 years — yes, even slower than the often-criticized Windows Vista.
Microsoft promotes Windows 11 as its fastest operating system ever, but real-world tests tell a different story. In a detailed comparison, TrigzZolt benchmarked several Windows versions: XP, Vista, 7, 8.1, 10, and 11. The results showed that the newest version, Windows 11, performed the worst overall.
The tests covered system boot time, laptop battery performance, application launch speed, memory management, and video editing capabilities. The benchmarks were run on a Lenovo ThinkPad X220 — a model not officially compatible with Windows 11 — which could have affected some results. However, since the incompatibility mainly relates to hardware security rather than performance, the impact was likely minor.
Among all the tested systems, Windows 11 was the slowest to start up, took the longest to open simple applications like Paint and File Explorer, and performed poorly when handling video editing in OpenShot. It also showed the highest RAM usage when idle. Even without active applications, Windows 11 consumes significantly more memory due to its many background services and always-on features. Recently added AI functions have also contributed to slowing it down.
The only areas where Windows 11 performed better were file transfer speed and storage space management for system applications. Overall, the conclusion was clear — Microsoft needs to lighten Windows 11, instead of filling it with more and more features that few users actually use.