Tiny11 creator NTDEV has demonstrated Windows 11 26H2 running on a system with just 128MB of RAM, far below Microsoft's official minimum requirement. Despite the severe memory restriction, the heavily stripped-down installation can load the desktop, open File Explorer, access the Start menu, and run classic Notepad.
NTDEV shared the achievement on October 31, then uploaded a short video demonstration on November 1. The screenshot identifies the operating system as Windows 11 Enterprise 26H2, build 26300.9457, with about 127MB of physical memory recognized. The developer also demonstrated basic multitasking, although they described the experience as "INSANELY slow."
Microsoft's official requirements mention a minimum of 4GB of RAM to run Windows 11. That means the experimental configuration operates with just 3.125% of the specified minimum, or one-thirty-second of the memory capacity.
However, this doesn't mean an unmodified Windows 11 installation can run on 128MB, as NTDEV has to strip the operating system down extensively, removing Windows components and services to reduce memory requirements.
This isn't NTDEV's first attempt to push Windows 11 to its limits. Back in 2023, we covered the developer booting a similarly modified installation with just 176MB of RAM. That experiment sacrificed the familiar Windows desktop and File Explorer, relying mainly on the Command Prompt.
The latest demonstration reduces the available memory by another 48MB while still retaining portions of the graphical interface.
The achievement also follows NTDEV's recent Pico11 experiment, which shrank a Windows 11 installation ISO, including its installer, to just under 700MB, small enough to fit on a CD. That separate prototype could launch the desktop and several built-in applications. However, the ISO's size measures storage space, not the RAM required to run the operating system.
NTDEV has not published a complete breakdown of the 128MB configuration, including the hardware or virtual machine settings and the services removed. Such extensive modifications may compromise compatibility, security, and functionality.
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How does NTDEV's 128MB Windows 11 26H2 build compare with the 176MB experiment in the desktop features it retains?
How does Tiny11's typical memory use compare with NTDEV's experimental 128MB Windows 11 build?
What security and compatibility risks can come with heavily stripped-down Windows 11 installations?
What minimum hardware requirements does Microsoft specify for Windows 11 26H2 beyond 4GB of RAM?
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While the experiment demonstrates how aggressively Windows 11 can be stripped down, its extremely slow performance makes it more of a technical achievement than something you'd want to use daily.
