TL; PhD
- Microsoft has changed its position on the minimum system requirements for Windows 11.
- CPU support has been expanded to include more Intel CPUs.
- Some older systems will also be able to get Windows 11, but not through Windows Update.
After all, Microsoft will let you upgrade your old computer to Windows 11.After Microsoft had a lot of condemnation on the system requirements of Windows 11 Announced a few weeks ago, It seems that the Redmond Giant has changed his mind.
related: Windows 11 beta impressions
in a Blog post Today, Microsoft announced slightly updated system requirements for the Windows 11 upgrade. Although the changes on paper are not too great, it is worth noting that the company will not prevent users from manually trying to update the old system to Windows 11. Its guidelines will more or less only restrict your access to Windows 11 through Windows Update.
You can install Windows 11 on older PCs yourself
Windows 11 will now officially support Intel Core X series, Xeon W series and Intel Core 7820HQ-which can be found in Surface Studio 2. It is worth noting that the original requirements made Studio 2 ineligible for upgrading, but it has now been conveniently cut.
If you want to officially use Windows 11 through Windows Update, you still need to have an 8th generation or newer Intel CPU, or Zen 2 or newer AMD CPU, UEFI secure boot and TPM 2.0. You also need at least 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage space.
Microsoft also stated that users can still manually install Windows 11 from the ISO file. As long as the system has a 64-bit CPU with a frequency of 1 GHz and above, at least 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage space. These are the absolute minimum specifications required to run Windows 11. As expected, Windows 11 will not support 32-bit CPUs.
We asked, you told us: Most people plan to upgrade to Windows 11
Users will also have a clearer understanding of why their systems cannot get the official Windows 11 update.Microsoft is updating the PC Health Check application Preview availableThe new app will provide more detailed information about what makes your system ineligible for upgrade, including whether only enabling TPM 2.0 or secure boot can solve the problem.
Microsoft does provide some reasons for stricter requirements, mainly based on security. These include DCH driver support and higher security standards, with TPM and virtualization-based security. In any case, I am very happy to see that Microsoft keeps Windows 11 open enough that users can manually upgrade as needed.