Microsoft has unleashed a subtle but meaningful performance tweak for Windows 11, targeting the interactions users perform dozens of times a day: opening the Start menu, launching Search, and pulling up the Action Center. Delivered through the KB5089573 preview update for versions 24H2 and 25H2, the change introduces what the company calls a Low Latency Profile—a technique that briefly boosts the CPU frequency when these interface elements spring to life.
The result, according to early testers, is a noticeably snappier response. Menus appear with less of that nagging delay that can make a high-end PC feel sluggish. The update is optional for now, but if your machine runs 24H2 or 25H2, you can install it immediately from Windows Update.
How the Low Latency Profile Works
Modern processors constantly adjust their clock speed to balance performance and power consumption. Under light loads, cores idle at low frequencies; when you launch a demanding app, they ramp up. The problem? Those ramps aren’t instant. A CPU might take 20–30 milliseconds to jump from 1 GHz to 4 GHz. For a menu animation, that’s an eternity.
The Low Latency Profile sidesteps this by preemptively boost the relevant cores as soon as the user clicks or presses a key. Think of it like revving an engine before the green light. The frequency spike is extremely short—likely under 100 ms—so it doesn’t waste meaningful power, but it eliminates the perceptible hitch between action and reaction.
Microsoft hasn’t published deep technical documentation, but the behavior aligns with existing CPU performance states (P-states) and hints at deeper integration with the Windows scheduler. It’s not a new concept; Intel’s Speed Shift and AMD’s CPPC2 have enabled rapid frequency transitions for years. What’s novel is Microsoft specifically tuning the OS to exploit these capabilities for everyday shell interactions.
The Features Getting a Boost
KB5089573 focuses on three surfaces:
Start Menu – The Start menu has been a lightning rod for performance complaints since Windows 11 launched. On some machines, the flyout animation stutters, especially when widgets or recommended content are loading. The Low Latency Profile ensures the CPU is ready to render the menu the moment you hit the Windows key.
Search – Search sits at the core of the Windows experience. Whether you’re typing a file name, a setting, or a web query, every keystroke can trigger a CPU spike as the index is queried and results are rendered. By anticipating the user’s intent, the profile smooths out the small but cumulative lag that frustrates fast typists.
Action Center – The Quick Settings / Notification panel slides out from the right side. It connects to numerous background services (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, volume, focus assist) and must populate live tiles on demand. A burst of CPU power makes that slide-out feel immediate.
All three are entry points that define how “fast” your computer feels. A 50-millisecond improvement here can alter the perception of the entire device.
Availability and Installation
KB5089573 is a non-security preview update, meaning it won’t install automatically unless you manually check for updates. To get it:
- Open Settings > Windows Update.
- Click Check for updates.
- Look for “2025-xx Cumulative Update Preview for Windows 11 Version 24H2” or “25H2” under Optional updates.
- Select and install, then restart.
Preview updates carry the handful of fixes and features that will roll into the next month’s mandatory Patch Tuesday release. So if you’d rather wait, the Low Latency Profile will likely reach all 24H2/25H2 devices by the next cumulative update.
Version 24H2 and the incoming 25H2 share the same servicing codebase, so both get the improvement simultaneously. Users on older releases (22H2, 23H2) or on Windows 10 will not see this enhancement.
The Trade-Offs: Power and Heat
Any time you push a CPU beyond its idle state, you’re burning more milliwatts. However, because the boosts are measured in tens of milliseconds, the energy cost is negligible. A typical burst from 1.0 GHz to 4.5 GHz on a single core for 50 ms consumes an extra roughly 0.0002 watt-hours—far less than the power drawn by the display backlight for the same period.
Heat isn’t a concern either. Thermal inertia means chip temperature barely budges during such short spikes. Laptops and tablets with passive cooling will not suddenly start their fans because of this change.
Some enthusiasts might worry about wear and tear from additional frequency transitions. Modern CPUs are rated for billions of state changes over their lifetime; adding a few hundred per hour is immaterial. The only real downside is that extremely sensitive power monitoring tools may log a trivial increase in “CPU energy consumed” when you open Start. For the vast majority, the improved responsiveness is an unqualified win.
Community Feedback: Early Impressions
Because the update is fresh, the user narrative is still forming. On forums like Windows Central and Reddit’s r/Windows11, early adopters report mixed but generally positive results. Comments cluster around three themes:
Praise for consistency – Multiple users note that the Start menu no longer misses the first keystroke if they start typing immediately after pressing Win. Before, a slight delay meant that a rapid “Win + ‘calc’” might drop the ‘c’ and leave you searching for “alc.” This is now fixed, they claim.
Speculative skepticism – A vocal minority dismisses the change as a placebo, arguing that Windows animations already mask CPU ramp-up times. However, real metrics from reviewers using frame-time analysis indicate genuine improvements of 10–30 ms in menu render time on Skylake and Zen 3 systems.
Call for expansion – The most common request: do the same for Task View, virtual desktop switching, and the Taskbar overflow menu. Users want Microsoft to extend the Low Latency Profile to any interaction that feels “instant” on a well-tuned machine.
One interesting observation, posted by a user with a nearly decade-old Intel Core i5-6600K, suggests the profile might benefit older hardware more, because those CPUs have slower default frequency ramping. If true, the update could breathe new life into perfectly functional PCs that felt slow only because of OS latency.
How This Fits into Microsoft’s Performance Push
KB5089573 doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Over the past year, Microsoft has embarked on a “Windows 11 performance refresh” that includes:
- Shrinking the OS footprint: Cleaner system processes, fewer background services, and a trimmed Explorer.
- Optimizing animation frames: The Taskbar, Quick Settings, and Notification Center have all received under-the-hood tweaks to their rendering pipelines.
- Reducing thread contention: Changes to how legacy APIs handle window messages have cut down on GUI stalls.
The Low Latency Profile is the next logical step—moving beyond code-cuts and into direct collaboration with the hardware. It’s a sign that the Windows shell team is finally treating CPU frequency as a first-class resource for UI responsiveness, much as game studios treat frame pacing.
Looking Ahead: Will It Become Default?
If the preview proves stable, the profile will be flipped on by default in a production-level update. Given Microsoft’s cautious rollout style, the company is likely monitoring telemetry for any unexpected spikes in battery drain or system crashes before making the call. So far, no critical bugs have been reported.
One open question is whether the profile will be user-adjustable. Power users might want to tweak the duration or aggressiveness of the frequency boost. Right now, the settings are not exposed in the Control Panel or Power Options, but a future Power Throttling policy or hidden Performance Mode toggle could offer that granularity.
Another possibility is an adaptive implementation: the system could learn a user’s habits and pre-boost cores just before they typically open Start in the morning, for example. That’s speculative, but it aligns with Microsoft’s increasing use of machine learning in Windows.
Actionable Takeaways
If you’re on 24H2 or 25H2, installing KB5089573 is a no-brainer. The performance gain is real, the risks are minimal, and you’ll help Microsoft validate the improvement for a wider audience. Even if you don’t “feel” the difference consciously, your muscle memory will thank you.
For IT administrators, there’s little to fear. The update doesn’t alter security settings, network policies, or Group Policy. It’s a pure client-side optimization. Deploy it in your testing rings and watch for any unusual behavior, but expect a smooth ride.
For those on older Windows versions, this is another reason to upgrade. The 24H2 feature update brought numerous performance enhancements, and now the servicing stack is delivering even more. Windows 10 may be stable, but it won’t see these kinds of intelligent hardware integrations.
The upshot: with a tiny, intelligent burst of CPU power, Microsoft is trimming the most irritating friction points from Windows 11. Start, Search, and Action Center now feel like they belong on a 2025 PC—even if that PC was built in 2018.