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Windows users have been lashing out at some of Microsoft's efforts to optimize and speed up the OS, and Microsoft VP Scott Hanselman has clearly had enough.
In a string of X messages, he pushed back on claims that Microsoft is somehow cheating or doing something that other platforms are not. Microsoft might be late to the party, but it's not doing something crazy, he argues.
Microsoft is testing a new "Low Latency Profile" feature with some Windows Insiders that maxes out the CPU frequency in a short 1- to 3-second burst when the user performs a significant input, such as starting an application or opening the Start menu. This can reportedly lead to some apps opening up to 40% faster, but the option has been met with surprising pushback.
"It's 2026 and Microsoft needs to briefly throttle your machine into full power maximum performance mode to open the start menu without lag, sorry, with less lag, and they think this is something worth announcing to the press and public and giving it a name," an X user wrote.
In response, Hanselman noted that, "Apple does this and y'all love it."
When asked by someone why Microsoft hasn't done this before, Hanselman suggests it's probably due to compatibility with user-mode accessors on Arm and "x64 issues." This change could be even more dramatic for fast-switching, modern Arm processors, he added.
Hanselman confirmed that the code could be improved overall, and that Microsoft had smart people working on it, but that boosting CPU speed could also improve things. "All modern operating systems do this, including macOS and Linux," he tweeted. "It's not 'cheating'; this is how modern systems make apps feel fast: they temporarily boost the CPU speed and prioritize interactive tasks to reduce latency."
When another user urged people to "imagine your smartphone boosting max CPU every time you touch something," Hanselman again came back with a clear, "Your smartphone already does this." Indeed, it's the fast cycling between frequency and power modes that makes modern phones feel so responsive compared with older devices.
It seems fair to argue that Microsoft should have made these changes a long time ago, as they are straightforward and almost ubiquitously adopted. However, free performance is free performance. A better Windows experience can come from all manner of tweaks and updates. I don't know if this is one gift horse we need to look at so closely.