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Gamers are notoriously protective of their processor cycles and worry that unexpected background clock spikes could cause frame drops, stuttering, or one percent lows in competitive titles. Now, while there is no official word from Microsoft, the reality is that the Low Latency Profile specifically targets core shell experiences and interface flyouts, such as the Start menu, Notification Center, and File Explorer. When a game is running in full-screen, you aren't interacting with the operating system shell, meaning the feature trigger logic remains dormant.

There's significant backlash against calling this new performance improvement a band-aid for underlying bloat within the operating system. Microsoft defends it as standard industry practice for perceived responsiveness. Microsoft VP Scott Hanselman defended the approach on X, saying that many modern operating systems, including Apple's macOS and Linux distros, already use this approach to make the experience feel snappier.