this post was submitted on 10 Nov 2023
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I don't have an Mac. How much RAM does it use just to turn it on? Windows 10 needs an astounding 4 GB just to see the desktop.
Windows RAM allocation depends on your ram size. If you have more ram, it will allocate more. Unused RAM is wasted RAM
Anecdotal evidence, but I've seen many old windows laptops with 8GB RAM use around 3-4GB on the desktop with no programs or background apps running.
Yes, 50% allocation is pretty normal and healthy.
Windows doesn't use it all to load the desktop. It caches the rest so the files and software you use often loads faster. There's also the reserved RAM for the hardware...
At least 4GB, my previous employer was a young guy that was an Apple simp. He bought a bunch of Mac minis as desktop computers and they only had 4GB of RAM. They were the most garbage piece of shit computer I have ever had the displeasure of being forced to use. It really wasn't even usable, it would lock up just trying to open any web browser or even the file explorer (or whatever Apple calls it). It really amazes me how Apple continues to shit in their customers mouths, tell them it's chocolate ice cream and they believe them
I got gifted an old MacBook (I never thought of buying one myself) and started using it mainly because I liked the UI, but I'm generally speaking a windows user at work and Linux sysadmin at home.
When I checked up the MacBook systems, I see it has 4 GB of RAM and I thought "that's pathetic!"
But surprisingly enough, the Mac OS handled everything I throw at him with decent performance and I've never felt the OS was overwhelmed.
I don't know if this is a testament of how well integrated and optimised Mac OS is (after all, it's still BSD) or how bad Windows is.
But still, for the price they're charging for these machines, adding at least a couple of gigs of RAM would be expected!
I think Unix got a smidge better and windows got insanely bad.
Every os uses certain % of ram to preload services and applications. So that when you launch them they open faster. And when they aren't needed and you want to do ram intensive task, those unnecessary processes are killed.