Windows 11 to enable memory protection on more devices — at the cost of gaming performance

Microsoft is getting ready to enable Windows 11's memory integrity feature on more devices as soon as next month. This is a kernel-level protection that blocks malicious code and untrusted drivers from running. The downside is known in advance: Microsoft itself has previously warned that the feature can hurt gaming performance.

“Windows quality updates will begin enabling memory integrity on eligible devices,” said Peter Waxman, a group program manager at Microsoft. According to him, if the feature isn't already active, those same updates will also turn on virtualization-based security (VBS), which unlocks additional protective capabilities. The company frames this as part of a push toward a “secure by default” approach.

The price of security

Memory integrity only allows trusted code and drivers to run in kernel mode, but on certain hardware this comes at the expense of frame rates. On modern processors the drop is almost imperceptible, whereas on older chips the dip in some games can be noticeable.

There's good news for those who cherish every frame: if a user has previously turned memory integrity off themselves, Microsoft won't automatically switch it back on next month.

How to check and what to do

To find out the feature's status, just type “Core Isolation” into Windows search, open the corresponding entry, and toggle memory integrity in the Windows Security app. For anyone who decides to disable the protection for the sake of performance, Microsoft recommends remembering to turn it back on once the game is over — a trade-off that in practice few people will actually honor, though on paper the recommendation looks exemplary.

Source: The Verge