Technology
A nice place to discuss rumors, happenings, innovations, and challenges in the technology sphere. We also welcome discussions on the intersections of technology and society. If it’s technological news or discussion of technology, it probably belongs here.
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If Microsoft wants more RAM just to do AI shit on my computer, I'd rather have even less just to make sure they cant.
Be careful with what you wish for... if they can't do it on your computer, then they'll send your data to the cloud to do it there.
My next OS will be some kind of Linux. I just had to reinstall Windows 11 because it corrupted it's install after some time. I had to uninstall so much crap and regedit so many thinks just to get it back to where I was before. I don't want Bing search in my windows search results. I don't want your stupid widgets and I don't want your browser or 90% of your default apps. And no I don't want office 360 or onedrive. So stop forcing it into my face. When Linux gets Plasma 6 and HDR support there is only holding me back my Nvidia GPUs Linux compatibility. While I hah to install windows 11 again I played a lot of games on my Steam Deck! It's is awesome and only some games with obscure anti cheat don't run. (well some times they don't run on windows too)
nvidia opensourced their drivers because of that lapsus kid.
the community is already building a state of the art open driver for nvidia 2xxxx and above.
only a matter of time, but even then nvidia is pretty usable with the proprietary drivers nowadays.
I love to bash MS, but this feels like an industry-wide trend to /never/ care about optimizing beyond the bar of "typical specs of new devices in rich countries". I'm guessing it's just to limit labor costs, and computers are less-rapidly-improving than the 90s/00s?
Code optimization has pretty much fallen by the way side since ram prices keep going down and cpu performance keeps improving.
Why spend the time if you don't have to?
Browsers are some of the worst culprits.
Browser canvas is one of the worst culprits: it has to keep a buffer with an uncompressed bitmap several screens in size.
Old browsers used to keep a single screen worth of canvas buffer, then redraw stuff as you scrolled... which made it a horrible experience. You can still find some of that with "clever" web designs where they replace fonts or move things dynamically as you scroll.
Then you have websites with "infinite scroll" that just keep increasing the canvas buffer size more and more and more, to infinity and beyond... and people wonder why their Facebook or Reddit tabs use so much RAM.
Just for the sake of a beautiful audited and blazingly fast codebase that tuns qo good that Raspberry Pi user can run your stuff too.
I love optimisation!
premature optimization is the root of all evil - Donald Knuth
which does not excuse a total lack of optimization, but gotta hit those kpi's
It already should have that. 8 GB is the absolute bare fucking minimum for most computers these days, but unless you have 16, it's a generally unpleasant experience.
For windows, yes. For Linux and OSx, 8gb si still ok for most usecase
While 8GB is typically enough for Linux today, it may not be enough a few years from now. Buying a laptop with 8GB of soldered in RAM would limit the useful life of it.
8GB was the bare minimum in 2010. It’s amazing how the increase of memory just stopped.
I have 8 and am able to play 4x games at high settings w/o significant lag until late game lol. People really tend to blow this one out of proportion. Unless you're an incredibly heavy user you probably don't need more than 8 and 16 still feels luxurious.
8 GB is the absolute bare fucking minimum for most computers these days
I keep seeing this statement all around the web but it is still amazing that we need that much RAM even for today.
Don't get me wrong, I know 8 GB is becoming the standard even for mobile phones, so it is only logical to assume to bump this number for PCs (why no 12 GBS of RAM? IDK) and I have been using 16 GBs of RAM for 10 years now, it is a MacBook Pro and for me Apple does not make it clear to see how much of that RAM I'm actually using... Regardless RAM has never been a problem for me, with casual usage, and I always thought 8 GBs should work the same for even a lighter usage, why do I say that? Because before moving to such a Mac I used a laptop with 4 GBs of RAM around 2011-2014 and it was a pain in the ass to use (the processor was shit as well) for simple navigation for my thesis... So yeah if you think 8 GBs is bad, try 4 GBs.
Another reason I think 8 GBs is "a high amount for casual usage" is that my work PC had also 4 GBs of RAM, but there was not a reason to hoard tabs and such, so it was very manageable (also the processor wasn't shit, but it was like a Core i5 or something like that, the usual office PCs you see and know), if we are talking about bottlenecks it would be the shitty HDD speeds LMAO.
What I think you guys all mean with 8 GBs of RAM is the bare minimum for nowadays standard is if you use it for IT related topics or you like to hoard stuff in it (which ain't bad, unused RAM is wasted RAM after all) or simply depend on heavy programs which ain't the web browser, for casuals I'd say 6 GBs would be a fair number, although it is not usual, and fuck 4 GBs of RAM in 2024, for any kind of device lol (I bet offices still use that dog shit).
Anyway I'd personally aim for 16 GBs of RAM or more regardless, for any of my future purchases, because I like to keep my stuff for years to come.
I do have 16GB RAM, but that's not because I wanted to run just the OS and without a game.
linux needs like 1gb of ram and some distros even less
Strictly speaking, "Linux" can run on 10MB of RAM or less.
Meanwhile, a single web page may need 100MB or more to build the DOM, run all scripts, and keep a buffer of the canvas.
My new PC has 64g ram. But I'm also not using or plan to use windows. Checkmate M$!
But in all seriousness, 8g is like, the foundational minimum these days. Sad tbh. Browsers are so bloated these days. I'm surprised that browsers haven't become their own OS yet. It kinda feels that way in some environments.
Phones are coming with 12GB and Apple are still only putting 8Gb in their ‘pro’ line.
🙃
Microsoft are such weirdos. It's like they're trying to empower Google, who will lap up all of the users they abandon as they install Chrome OS, because let's be honest, the average Jo seldom just installs Linux, so they'll say, "oh I've heard of Chrome, let me try that"
My next Windows PC doesn't need any RAM, because I'm not going to need one.
I may have 128Gb in my current rig (Dell Precision T7610), but if this is the way you’re gonna be bloating Windows 12, imma gonna be running to OpenSUSE or some BSD.
Yes, I use Win10Privacy to lobotomize all of the spyware and cruftware that comes with Windows. But it’s gotta be re-run after every significant Windows update.
Jesus Christ, what are they doing? Emulating the OS in fucking Minecraft!?
The article mentions AI. 16gigs feels far too little to run a LLM of respectable size so I wonder what exactly this means? Feels like no one is gonna be happy about a 16gig LLM (high RAM usage and bad AI features)
Of fucking course it's AI, why the hell wouldn't it be AI. For fuck sake, it's like they want their users to switch to Linux.
Don't worry! Eventually, they will find a "cure," such as Windows moving to a cloud-only model where your PC becomes a glorified dumb terminal!
So like Windows 365, but for consumers.
That's probably not the worst option for most consumers. People are horrible about keeping their shit updated.
Most people only use their computers for web browsing anyways, and many people buy systems that are way more powerful than what they actually need. I've had to talk a ton of people out of buying i7 laptops just for Office and the internet.
I've built and maintained Citrix VDI environments for a global company, and once people get over the "this is new" hurdle, they love it.
I will have no next windows PC anyways. I'll go out of my way to get one without a windows license, to put linux onto it :)
Meanwhile, chrome and desktop apps (Electron-based) like Slack, note apps, etc, takes 1GB just to open... Well, tbh I don't know if they really use physical RAM space, but anyway.
Going to need 32 GB of RAM or more plus a GPU with 48 GB of VRAM just to run Win12 w/ AI subsystem so you have enough headroom to run a program or two
RAM is cheap, and even if you're just doing absolute basic shit your current PC will work better with 16GB of RAM (also looking at you here, Apple). If it's not a phone you're buying don't get anything with less than 16GB.
my first computer was a tandy sensation which has 4mb of ram and a 100mb hard drive
Anyone an idea or a link what kind of AI they want to run on people's machines? Will it add something for the user or just annoy you and add more targeted advertising?
The second one.
Clippy v.2.
They're going to make us miss that clueless little bastard.