Windows 11 is officially available to download now but there seems to be a lingering thought about the OS negatively impacting gaming performance. This largely appears to be due to Microsoft's implementation of Virtualization-based Security (VBS). At least, that's what UL Benchmarks, the developers of the popular 3DMark and PCMark suite of benchmarking tools, have suggested based on their testing.

VBS uses hardware virtualization features to create and isolate a secure region of memory from the normal operating system. The operating system can use it to host a number of security solutions and keep them protected from other vulnerabilities affecting the system. You can learn more about it in Microsoft's support document. According to UL Benchmarks, VBS is negatively impacting gaming performance. They have also confirmed that the future versions of their benchmarks will come with VBS detection to help you get a better understanding. But in the meantime, here's a quick tutorial on how to check if VBS is enabled on your PC -

How to check if VBS is enabled in Windows 11

  • Press the 'Win' key to bring the Start Menu or simply press the 'Search' button in Windows to bring the Search bar.
Windows 11 search bar with default windows background
  • Now, type 'MSInfo32' and press enter.
  • Once you scroll all the way down inside the 'System Information' app, you will see whether VBS is enabled on your PC.
  • You can use the same process to see if VBS is enabled in Windows 10 too.
Screenshot showing VBS setting in Windows 11

From what we have found, VBS will not be enabled if you have never toyed with that setting before. This is because VBS is not enabled by default in Windows 10. In fact, it will not be enabled by default in Windows 11 if you are upgrading from Windows 10 or installing a copy manually. However, this won't be the case when you purchase a new laptop or a pre-built desktop from an OEM. As noted by PCGamer, Microsoft has confirmed that it is working with partners to enable VBS and HVCI on most new PCs over this next year.

If VBS has a negative impact on the gaming performance, then we would rather have it turned off by default. But for now, it seems like an additional step we will have to go through before making sure the gaming performance isn't majorly impacted. In addition to this, there are some other known issues of Windows 11 that you might want to know before hitting that install button at launch. Good luck!