Developer NTDev is famous for pushing the limits of Microsoft operating systems, and their latest success is no exception. They have successfully run Windows 11 on just 184MB of system memory – a record that even Windows XP would struggle with.
NTDev shared this achievement on X, describing it as “completely insane, and possibly a record.” This feat was achieved thanks to Tiny11, a specially modified version of Windows 11 created by the developer to minimize storage requirements. Tiny11 removes unnecessary applications such as Camera, OneDrive, and other bloatware, creating optimized settings for low-end hardware.
The primary goal of Tiny11 is to save storage space, and it does so impressively – reducing the Windows 11 installation size from over 20GB to just 8GB. By removing unnecessary applications and processes, Tiny11 also significantly reduces RAM usage, allowing it to run on extremely low memory configurations.
It’s amazing what you can do even with such a “closed” system as Windows.
Somehow I managed to make Windows 11 (through tiny11 and all that stuff, of course) run on just 184MB of RAM, which even though it’s in Safe Mode I still think it’s absolutely insane, and possibly a record. pic.twitter.com/IPK24LqjBJ— NTDEV (@NTDEV_) December 26, 2024
Recent builds of Tiny11 are said to allow Windows updates, but this feature is not officially supported by Microsoft. Removing certain components can also cause issues; for example, deleting the Edge browser can break widgets that depend on its code.
The usability of Windows 11 under such resource-constrained conditions is truly a different story. With only 184MB of RAM, running a modern operating system and applications is nearly impossible. An image shared by NTDev shows system memory peaking at 183MB with only Notepad open.
Notably, this success relies on memory paging, which likely helps the operating system bypass certain physical RAM limitations. However, NTDev emphasized that much more optimization is still required for the system to be bootable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL6t_iuitxM
“Torturing operating systems” like this is nothing new to NTDev, who are well-known for pushing Windows to its absolute limits through various mods and experiments. Earlier this year, they achieved a new extreme milestone: finding the minimum installation size for Windows 11, reducing it to under 100MB. Unsurprisingly, the operating system was stripped down to a point where it was almost unusable.
In another record-breaking experiment just a month later, NTDev successfully installed a completely fresh version of Windows 10 in just 104 seconds, again thanks to a highly customized and optimized version of the operating system.
According to Techspot
