Windows 11 Loses to Windows 8.1 in Outdated Hardware Race — A Test That’s More Anecdote Than Benchmark

Windows 11’s disastrous performance in a cross-generational speed test adds fuel to the community’s fire — but the real story is how outdated hardware turned the experiment into a farce.

Windows 11 placed last in most benchmarks across six generations of Windows when tested on outdated Lenovo ThinkPad X220 laptops with 8GB RAM and HDDs.

Windows 8.1 emerged as the unexpected winner in boot time, RAM management, and browser tab handling. Windows 11 consumed 3.3GB RAM at idle (vs. XP’s 0.8GB) and loaded only 49 browser tabs (vs. 8.1’s 252).

The test’s methodology flaws included the use of HDDs instead of SSDs, hardware not officially supported by Windows 11, and older OSes using stripped-down browsers (Supermium) for compatibility.

These factors artificially disadvantaged Windows 11 while amplifying older OSes’ strengths.

Noting modern hardware would skew results differently. The admission highlights the test’s limited relevance to real-world usage, where modern systems typically use SSDs and are optimized for newer operating systems.