Microsoft is testing ReFS for new Windows 11 installs

#1

Post by thecosmicfrog » Sat, Apr 05, 2025, 12:44 AM UTC

Microsoft is testing ReFS for new Windows 11 installs
xda-developers.com

Re: Microsoft is testing ReFS for new Windows 11 installs

#2

Post by replete » Sat, Apr 05, 2025, 7:40 AM UTC

I found around 6-15% performance improvement in build times after implementing DevDrive (mounted VHD) on Windows machines, which uses ReFS. Deleting huge folders was also perceivably faster.

Re: Microsoft is testing ReFS for new Windows 11 installs

#3

Post by hulitu » Sat, Apr 05, 2025, 7:42 AM UTC

> Microsoft is testing

This is a contradiction in terms. Microsoft doesn't test anything. Always the user has to do it.

Re: Microsoft is testing ReFS for new Windows 11 installs

#4

Post by justapassenger » Sat, Apr 05, 2025, 7:57 AM UTC

hulitu wrote: post #3

> Microsoft is testing This is a contradiction in terms. Microsoft doesn't test anything. Always the user has to do it.

Microsoft is undisputed leader in backwards compatibility for their OS, while running on near infinite amount of hardware.

Testing is large part of why they can do that.

Re: Microsoft is testing ReFS for new Windows 11 installs

#5

Post by cors-fls » Sat, Apr 05, 2025, 2:00 PM UTC

I have been made aware of ReFS thanks to the "Dev drive"[1] technology in Win11. ReFS is apparently particularly suited to store source code and code artifacts for dev workloads.

I have been using it (dedicated DevDrive partition) for some time but performance improvement are subtle and not easily visible without measurements. Which I haven't done.

[1] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dev-drive/

Re: Microsoft is testing ReFS for new Windows 11 installs

#6

Post by myrandomcomment » Sun, Apr 06, 2025, 1:30 AM UTC

IIRC, because I am old, NT 3.1/3.51 supported HPFS from OS/2. Now get off my lawn.