What you need to know
- It's possible to run Windows 11 on an unsupported device using Tiny11.
- Tiny11's developer, NTDEV, was able to run Windows 11 on "just 176MB of RAM."
- Windows 11's adoption rate has been slowed by its minimum system requirements.
Windows 11 has been available for nearly two years, but many users are still reluctant to adopt the new operating system. Perhaps, because of the strict minimum system requirements set by Microsoft.
According to a recent StatCounter report, Windows 10 remains at the top of the chain, even though Microsoft intends to cut support for the OS in October 2025. The company recommends that users should upgrade to Windows 11 before this time. It has been consistently pushing updates to the operating system, as is the case with the latest feature drop, Moment 3, that shipped to users running Windows 11, version 22H2 this week via the Patch Tuesday update.
Windows 11's system requirements act as a major deterrent blocking Windows users from making the upgrade, but NTDEV, the developer behind Tiny11, has shared proof that it's possible to run the operating system on a PC with less than 4GB of RAM.
Behold, another possible world record!Windows 11 on just 176MB of RAM, about 23 times smaller than the official system requirements (4GB of RAM)!The base system is a heavily trimmed down image of tiny11. Pointless and unnecessary? Absolutely!Impressive? You tell me. pic.twitter.com/UeC6MY6wwzJuly 11, 2023
For those unfamiliar with Tiny11, it's a lightweight version of Windows 11 designed to run on old PCs that don't meet Windows 11's strict system requirements. It's an ISO based on Windows 11 Pro 22H2. As the developer indicated during its launch earlier this year, it's “everything you need for a comfortable computing experience without the bloat and clutter of a standard Windows installation.”
In this specific scenario, the developer boasted that he was able to run Windows 11 on "just 176MB of RAM, about 23 times smaller than the official system requirements."
This incredible feat may open the Windows 11 gates for users with unsupported PCs, but it also has its fair share of setbacks, including blue screen errors, system instability, and data loss. You also risk not getting updates from Microsoft since they are not supported on your system.
The developer also shared a video on YouTube that showed how Windows 11 runs on the unsupported device. You can check it out for yourself below:
This possible world record has been made possible through extensive trial and error, by seeing which drivers and services are absolutely the ones for required to Windows 11 to boot. Even things like which disk drive interface was used were taken into consideration. ( IDE was used).
NTDEV, Tiny11 Developer
It's worth noting that Windows 11's "strict" system requirements aren't the only reason users are reluctant to make the upgrade. Several users have also expressed dissatisfaction with the operating system's design, consequently leading to the debut of platforms such as Stardock's Start11, which is designed to enhance and improve the Start experience for Windows 11 and Windows 10 users.
