Windows 11 running on only 176 MB of RAM is a thing, though it's a drastically cut-down version

Chalk this one up as a tech demo or a "let's see if it works" situation as NTDEV, as the creators of the lightweight tiny11 version of Windows 11 have managed to get the OS up and running on a system with only 176 MB of RAM. The minimum specs for Microsoft's latest OS list 4 GB for RAM, so you're looking at a system with 40 times less memory.

However, if you expect this build to load into the standard Windows 11 desktop, it doesn't. You're looking at a "heavily trimmed down" version of tiny11, to the point where all you've got is the Command Prompt to do things. Even so, the demonstration video shows the build opening up Task Manager and Notepad to showcase this build's multitasking capabilities.

NTDEV notes that this experiment resulted from extensive trial and error, where it went through countless drivers and services to find which ones were necessary for Windows 11 to boot, as well as limiting the disk drive to IDE without SATA or NVMe support. Can it run Crysis? Most definitely not.

In fact, even with just a Command Prompt, you can clearly see the system struggling to load things as simple as the Task Manager interface.

Regardless of the build's functionality and relevance, it's an impressive achievement that builds on Tiny11 developer NTDEV's efforts to create a more streamlined Windows 11 without bloat or unnecessary elements.

Earlier this year, we reported on NTDEV getting Windows 11 running on a GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop GPU's 4GB of VRAM. That's running on the GPU itself. That was based on Live11, an optimized Tiny11 that squeezes Windows 11 onto a 4GB drive and can run on RAM with no installation required.