frontpage.
newsnewestaskshowjobs

Open Source @Github

fp.

Open in hackernews

Even Microsoft couldn't make Windows 11 work well on 8GB of RAM

https://www.theverge.com/tech/966937/microsoft-surface-laptop-13-inch-8gb-ram-2026-review
17•GeekyBear•4h ago

Comments

cebert•4h ago
I think this is slightly misleading. Modern OSes intentionally use available RAM for caching and will reclaim it when needed. The issue isn’t that Windows is “using 6.7 GB”, but whether the system is under memory pressure and paging. I’m not convinced the author fully understands that.
ivanjermakov•2h ago
Related, great article about runtime memory in Linux: https://elinux.org/Runtime_Memory_Measurement
GeekyBear•2h ago
They do mention that the 8 Gig version of the laptop is stuttering while just working on Google Docs in a way that the 16 Gig version does not.

> The Surface Laptop would hang for a few seconds like this several times a day, even when I thought I wasn’t pushing it too hard. I’ve had these temporary freezes while just working in some Google Docs — no Teams call running or anything streaming in the background.

The issue seems to be that there isn't enough RAM for light multitasking or heavier applications without hitting the swap file hard enough that the system stutters.

mappu•2h ago
This distinction is less a gotcha and more actually immediately obvious in the Windows task manager. It shows cached memory separately and in a different colour. The "in use" part is real in-use excluding the page cache.

On my current Windows 11 install i'm using 7 GB with just this Firefox tab open, and another 18GB of "Cached" RAM.

Same as how `free` on Linux shows it in a different column.

WarOnPrivacy•3h ago
It can depend a bit on the use. I'm watching content (Jellyfin) on a ThinkCentre M75n IoT Thin Client.

It's underpowered all around. Athlon Silver 3050e, 4GB DDR4 (3.4 avail & not upgraeable) but it's running Win11 enterprise IoT 24H2. The device would sometimes throttle the CPU for unknown reasons (not thermal, no throttle flags). Universal x86 Tuning Utility completely fixed that.

The experience is really good up to 1080p videos. It can choke on 4k but it's a bedroom TV; it's fine. Videos on Firefox are no trouble. I'm quite happy with it.

big85•2h ago
It's bizarre to see 8GB spoken of as barely sufficient for basic uses. I remember when the baseline was measured in megabytes.
sseagull•1h ago
I remember having a computer and reading about how the CPU (486) could address up to 4 GB of memory. I thought that was maybe a mistake, since even my hard drive was maybe 100 MB, and I had 16 MB of memory IIRC.

I figured maybe they meant hard drive space (which I could kind of imagine being that large).

throwawaysjskdk•45m ago
Try using docker, then you’re really in trouble.

XRPLink – Cryptographically Verified XRP Payment Receipts, Powered by Flare FDC

https://github.com/joverman/xrplink
1•joverman•9m ago•0 comments

FDA approves new kind of cholesterol pill

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-oral-pcsk9-inhibitor-lower...
1•mgh2•11m ago•0 comments

Useless Use of Cat Award

https://porkmail.org/era/unix/award
1•gregsadetsky•22m ago•1 comments

Novo Space builds modular computers for satellite constellations

https://runtimewire.com/article/startup-spotlight-novo-space-builds-modular-computers-for-satelli...
1•ryanmerket•25m ago•0 comments

Gaming Sickness and Its Impact on Players' Experiences with Games

https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3670653.3677494
1•BiraIgnacio•29m ago•0 comments

I built a browser-based P2P file transfer tool using WebRTC

https://airdows.com/
1•SamOkampo•34m ago•1 comments

Jordan Ellenberg explains how geometry helps us understand the world

https://www.cbc.ca/lite/story/1.6448326
1•colinprince•37m ago•0 comments

Retry is not a loop, its a data structure

https://siddhantkhare.com/writing/retry-is-not-a-loop
1•meetpateltech•41m ago•0 comments

Association Between Low/No-Calorie Artificial Sweeteners and Cognitive Decline

https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000214023
2•corvad•44m ago•0 comments

PersonalDrive: Personal Cloud Storage

https://personaldrive.xyz/
1•thunderbong•47m ago•1 comments

Implementation of "Writing a C compiler" in Zig

https://github.com/igor84/wcc
2•rguiscard•49m ago•0 comments

Toyota pump tech could be key to hydrogen-combustion practicality

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/technology/toyota-pump-tech-could-be-key-hydrogen-combustion-p...
1•breve•51m ago•0 comments

Track you Claude Code usage in dollars

https://www.claudeusage.com/leaderboard
2•bazarkua•51m ago•1 comments

Seamless iPad (or any device that can run a web browser) drawing into org-mode

https://github.com/larrasket/org-pad.el
1•lr0•57m ago•0 comments

China cracks down on AI companions, forcing millions to break up

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-19/china-cracks-down-on-artificial-intelligence-companions/10...
2•defrost•58m ago•1 comments

Archaeologists found Homer's Iliad inside a 1,600-year-old Egyptian mummy

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260713084918.htm
3•NordStreamYacht•1h ago•0 comments

IceCream – Never use print() to debug again

https://github.com/gruns/icecream
1•gregsadetsky•1h ago•0 comments

Claude Is Painful

5•kderbyma•1h ago•3 comments

Deepsec

https://github.com/vercel-labs/deepsec
1•handfuloflight•1h ago•0 comments

AI Mania Is Eviscerating Global Decision-Making

https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/ai-mania-is-eviscerating-global-decision-making/#fnref:3
16•subset•1h ago•2 comments

Prompt Injection Attacks Are Thwarting AI Hacking Agents

https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/07/now-defenders-are-embracing-the-prompt-injection-too/
1•sbulaev•1h ago•1 comments

Doctors question evidence behind Pentagon plan for testosterone screening

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/18/us-military-testosterone-screening-doctors
1•wslh•1h ago•1 comments

University of Illinois is insuring itself against a drop in Chinese students

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/education/university-illinois-insurance-decline-chinese-enrollment/
2•MaysonL•1h ago•2 comments

AI as Normal Technology

https://knightcolumbia.org/content/ai-as-normal-technology
2•elsewhen•1h ago•0 comments

Ergonomic keyboard generator with hand scanning

https://ryanis.cool/cosmos/
1•ffin•1h ago•0 comments

My app just got approved by the App Store

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/kleios/id6765974356
3•idclark34•1h ago•5 comments

No, an AI cannot know the future and never will..

https://pulkitsharma.substack.com/p/no-an-ai-cannot-know-the-future-and
2•pulkitsh1234•1h ago•0 comments

Cash is king again at Tokyo's bars after credit processor fails

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2026/07/14/companies/zentoshin-kabukicho-bar-cash/
1•mikhael•1h ago•0 comments

Show HN: Flightwake – a flight recorder for AI coding agents, not a navigator

https://github.com/kaiwutech-TW/flightwake
2•kaiwuTW•1h ago•0 comments

Superformula

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superformula
2•elsewhen•1h ago•0 comments