Microsoft has quietly introduced a performance-enhancing change in the latest Windows 11 preview update that makes core user interface elements noticeably more responsive. Update KB5089573, released on May 26, 2026, activates a “Low Latency Profile” that briefly ramps up CPU performance whenever you invoke the Start menu, perform a search, or open the Action Center. This behind-the-scenes tweak eliminates tiny but perceptible delays, delivering a snappier feel to everyday interactions.

The update does not add any new buttons or settings; rather, it modifies how the system scheduler handles certain foreground events. For years, Windows enthusiasts have dissected the milliseconds of lag that separate a keypress from an on-screen response. With this change, Microsoft targets those exact moments—the fraction of a second between clicking the Start button and seeing the menu populate—by instructing the processor to momentarily exit power-saving states and run at a higher frequency.

A Performance Tweak Hiding in Plain Sight

KB5089573 falls into the category of Microsoft’s monthly “C” preview releases—non-security updates that provide early access to quality improvements and feature enhancements ahead of the following Patch Tuesday. These updates are optional and must be manually downloaded from Windows Update unless you’ve opted into the “Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available” setting.

The star of this release is undoubtedly the Low Latency Profile. Although the change is not accompanied by a flashy user interface or a toggle in Settings, its effects ripple through the most-trafficked parts of the Windows shell. Microsoft’s release notes describe it as a “background performance change that briefly raises CPU responsiveness during Start menu, Search, Action Center, and some other shell interactions.” By preemptively boosting the processor for just a few hundred milliseconds, the system can present UI elements with near-instantaneous fluidity.

This isn’t the first time Microsoft has experimented with on-demand performance profiles. Windows 11 already includes a Game Mode that prioritizes CPU and GPU resources for gaming workloads, and the power slider in earlier versions allowed similar, albeit cruder, toggling. What sets the Low Latency Profile apart is its automatic, event-driven nature—it activates only for the specific moments that users actually perceive as laggy.

Which UI Surfaces Get the Speed Boost

Based on the description, three primary Windows components benefit from this update: the Start menu, Search, and the Action Center. However, the phrase “and some other shell interactions” suggests a broader scope. Likely candidates include:

  • Taskbar thumbnail previews
  • Notification toasts
  • Quick Settings flyouts
  • The Copilot sidebar (if triggered via keyboard shortcut)
  • The date/time panel

These elements all share a common trait: they are frequently opened and closed, often while other applications are running. Each time you summon one, the system must compose, render, and animate a complex UI overlay. On underpowered machines—or even high-end laptops running on battery with aggressive power savings—the initial reaction can stutter or hesitate.

By giving the CPU a momentary nudge, Microsoft ensures that the first few frames of these animations are composited and displayed as quickly as possible. This technique is especially effective on systems with Intel’s 12th-gen and newer hybrid architectures or AMD’s modern Ryzen processors, where core parking and frequency scaling can introduce a split-second delay while the fastest cores wake up.

The Science of Latency: Why Milliseconds Matter

In human-computer interaction, latency is the silent killer of perceived performance. Studies have shown that delays as low as 100 milliseconds can disrupt the flow of interaction and make an interface feel unresponsive. When you click the Start button, your brain expects an immediate reaction; anything longer than about 50 ms can register as a subtle but frustrating pause.

Windows, like all modern operating systems, constantly balances performance with energy efficiency. To save power, CPUs drop to low-frequency states and may enter deep sleep states known as C-states (C6, C7). Waking from these sleep states can take tens of microseconds or more, and when multiplied across multiple cores and complex UI threads, the aggregate delay becomes perceptible. The Low Latency Profile proactively shortens that ramp-up period by sending a hint to the CPU’s power management hardware. Instead of waiting for the workload to pile up before requesting a higher frequency, the system instructs the processor to pre-emptively boost as soon as certain user-initiated events are detected.

How the Low Latency Profile Works

While Microsoft has not released detailed technical documentation, the mechanism likely leverages existing Windows power management infrastructure. Windows 11 supports a granular set of "power throttling" and "performance boost" hints that applications and the system can use to request higher performance for short periods. These hints are communicated to the CPU via ACPI or the Processor Power Management (PPM) engine.

In the case of the Low Latency Profile, the shell process (Explorer.exe) probably sends a "latency sensitive" flag to the scheduler when it detects an imminent UI draw—such as a Start menu invocation. The scheduler then temporarily overrides the current power plan's maximum frequency limit, allowing the CPU cores involved to reach their peak speed for a defined burst duration, perhaps 200-500 milliseconds. After that window, the CPU returns to normal frequency scaling rules.

This is fundamentally different from the "High Performance" power plan, which permanently locks the CPU at high frequencies, wasting energy and generating heat. The Low Latency Profile is more like a surgical strike: it applies extra performance only during the exact moments it’s needed, and only on the cores that are handling the UI thread. Some enthusiasts have drawn parallels to Intel’s "Speed Shift" technology or AMD’s "CPPC2," which allow the processor to autonomously adjust frequency more quickly, but the Low Latency Profile works at the OS level, giving Microsoft the ability to tune the behavior across a wide range of hardware.

Balancing Snappiness with Battery Life

Any time you increase CPU frequency, you increase power draw. However, the Low Latency Profile’s impact on battery life is expected to be minimal for several reasons. First, the bursts are extremely short—typically a few hundred milliseconds. Even if the CPU boosts to its maximum turbo frequency, the total energy consumed over such a brief interval is tiny. Second, these UI interactions are sporadic. Opening the Start menu ten times an hour adds up to only a few seconds of elevated power consumption over the course of a day. Third, the system likely uses existing power metrics to decide when to apply the boost; on a severely battery-constrained device, it might temper the aggressiveness to preserve uptime.

In practice, users on laptops might observe a negligible difference in battery life, perhaps a minute or two less over a full discharge cycle. The trade-off is well worth the dramatically improved interactivity. Desktop users, of course, have no battery concerns and will simply enjoy the added responsiveness.

User Reports and Early Feedback

Though the update is still fresh, early adopters on platforms like Reddit’s r/Windows11 and various tech forums have begun reporting their experiences. Most describe a subtle yet unmistakable increase in “crispness” when opening the Start menu or Action Center. One common observation is that the delay after pressing the Windows key feels almost eliminated, even on older Intel 8th-gen laptops. Others note that Search suggestions appear more instantaneously, particularly when the system is under heavy multitasking load.

A few power users have attempted to quantify the improvement using high-frame-rate cameras, and while no standardized benchmarks exist yet, the consensus is that Microsoft has shaved off anywhere from 30 to 80 milliseconds of perceptible latency in the targeted surfaces. That may not sound like much, but in UI terms it’s the difference between feeling snappy and feeling sluggish.

A History of Windows Latency Fixes

The Low Latency Profile is the latest in a long line of performance refinements for Windows 11. When the OS first launched in 2021, criticism centered on a sluggish Start menu and slow context menus. Since then, Microsoft has rolled out numerous cumulative updates to address these pain points:

  • KB5007215 (November 2021): Fixed an issue where the Start menu would lag when opening.
  • Moment 1 (October 2022): Optimized Taskbar animation and notification badge rendering.
  • KB5023706 (March 2023): Improved USB and Bluetooth peripheral latency for gaming.
  • 24H2 (Fall 2024): Introduced kernel-level changes that reduced overall DPC latency.

Each patch chipped away at the milliseconds that can make an OS feel dated. The Low Latency Profile represents a more aggressive approach—instead of merely fixing bugs that cause delays, it actively boosts hardware to eliminate them.

Installing the Preview Update

KB5089573 is available now as an optional update for Windows 11 version 24H2 and possibly some earlier releases. To install it, navigate to Settings → Windows Update → Check for updates. If you don’t see it immediately, click “Advanced options” and then “Optional updates.” The update will be listed under “Quality Updates.”

Keep in mind that preview updates are not pushed automatically. They serve as a test bed for changes that will eventually roll into the mandatory cumulative update arriving on the second Tuesday of the following month. If you prefer to wait for the fully baked release, you’ll receive these performance improvements in the June 2026 Patch Tuesday update. Because this is a non-security update, it does not address any CVEs; its focus is strictly on quality improvements, and the Low Latency Profile is the headline item.

Windows 11’s Ongoing Performance Journey

The Low Latency Profile aligns with Microsoft’s broader push to refine the Windows 11 experience. Since its launch, Windows 11 has received a steady stream of performance-oriented enhancements: the blocky acrylic blur effects were optimized, memory management was tightened, and the taskbar’s notification badges got a performance overhaul. Each update chipped away at the millisecond-level delays that can make an OS feel sluggish even on modern hardware.

Microsoft’s telemetry undoubtedly reveals where users experience the most friction, and the Start menu and Search are perennial hotspots. By directly targeting these entry points, the company demonstrates a keen understanding that subjective speed matters as much as raw benchmark scores. A fast PC that waits a beat before showing the Start menu is perceived as slow; a modest PC that reacts instantly feels quick.

What’s next? The Low Latency Profile may expand to more UI surfaces in future updates. File Explorer’s context menus, the new Widgets board, and even the Alt+Tab switcher could benefit from the same treatment. Additionally, Microsoft might open the capability to third-party developers so that applications can request a transient latency boost for their own critical interactions—think of a web browser rendering a huge page or a photo editor applying a filter.

For now, KB5089573 is a concentrated dose of performance tuning that power users and casual clickers alike will appreciate. To test it yourself, install the update, then pay close attention to how quickly the Start menu appears when you press the Windows key. The difference may be subtle—perhaps only a few frames—but in the course of a day, those recovered milliseconds add up to a more fluid, frustration-free computing experience.