Windows 11 Weather App: A RAM Heavyweight Compared to Lightweight Linux Alternatives
A recent report revealed that Windows 11’s Weather app consumes a staggering 1.1 GB of RAM just to display basic weather data. In contrast, the GNOME Weather app on Linux utilizes only a fraction of that memory, demonstrating the efficiency of Linux applications. For instance, Mousam, a popular Linux weather app, uses around 290 MB, significantly less than the Windows counterpart.
While not all users experience the same level of memory consumption—with some reports showing usage as low as 900 MB—this still raises eyebrows, particularly given how other complex applications manage to operate with less RAM. Microsoft’s adoption of the WebView2 framework for many of its apps, which relies on the Chromium engine, appears to contribute to this high memory usage. Moreover, the Weather app also integrates advertisements and sponsored content, which could detract from its usability.
In an informal comparison, various Linux weather applications were surveyed for their memory usage. The test included several apps on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, with results illustrating that they remain significantly more memory-efficient than Windows’ Weather app. For instance:
- Microsoft Weather (Windows): 900 MB
- Mousam (Linux): 290 MB
- Typhoon (Linux): 240 MB
- GNOME Weather (Linux): 160 MB
These figures show that Microsoft’s Weather app can occupy a substantial portion of the recommended 4 GB of RAM for Windows 11, raising concerns about performance, especially on devices with limited resources.
The inefficiencies of Windows apps may serve as a motivation for users to switch to Linux, not just due to the performance statistics but also due to a perceived lack of consideration for user experience by Microsoft. Users on Linux can enjoy streamlined applications that consume far less memory, supporting a smoother overall system performance.
For more insights on Linux weather apps, check here.