Microsoft will lean on your CPU to speed up Windows 11 apps and animations

Microsoft has heard your Windows 11 complaints, and wants to fix things. This is a message from Microsoft for most of this yearand the company is also working to ensure that people are aware of what is being planned and how it is progressing.

One of Microsoft’s goals long list was to improve the functionality of key Windows components such as the Start menu and File Explorer. One of the ways to do this is with what Microsoft calls “latency profiles,” which will speed things up by ordering CPU speeds when users open Start or other programs and context menus.

Windows Central he has tried low latency profile found in test builds of Windows 11 and saw a noticeable increase in speed and responsiveness on the same devices compared to the latest version of Windows 11 25H2.

Some social media users criticized Microsoft for expanding functionality in this way, thinking it would increase power consumption and reduce battery life, and criticized Microsoft for relying on hardware rather than software development. Microsoft and GitHub VP Scott Hanselman he replied these complaints, saying that the low latency profile is being added together with other software optimizations and that “it’s all a conspiracy where you don’t know how everything works.”

“All modern operating systems do this, including macOS and Linux,” Hanselman he wrote of additional CPU systems. “It’s not ‘cheating’; this is how modern systems help software feel faster: they temporarily boost CPU speed and prioritize active tasks to reduce latency.”

Ironically, allowing your CPU or GPU to use more power in short bursts he can save power, compared to running at a lower power level for a longer period of time. This is called a “sleep race,” and basically all modern processors are designed to do this; as long as the CPU can return to a low power level as soon as it finishes its work, it improves system response and saves energy.