Windows 11's built-in Weather app wastes more than 1 GB of RAM
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
Windows 11's Weather app can consume over 1 GB of RAM.
Windows 11's built-in Weather app can use more than 1 GB of RAM, with tests showing usage climbing to 1.5-1.6 GB during basic interactions. Its memory footprint is roughly five times larger than Apple's Weather app on macOS, which uses under 250 MB. The high usage stems from the app being a WebView2-based MSN Weather web app running multiple Chromium subprocesses. On an 8 GB system, the app can consume nearly 20% of available memory, potentially impacting responsiveness. The app also includes embedded ads.
What commenters are saying
Commenters find the RAM usage excessive, with many noting that a native weather app should use far less memory, citing examples like the xfce4 weather plugin (~30 MB) or wttr.in. Several criticize Microsoft for showing ads in a built-in app and note that ads already appear in the Start Menu. A few commenters debate whether modern UI rendering justifies higher memory use, but the consensus is that 1 GB is unjustified for a weather app.