W11 cosmetic upgrade left millions of PC without an upgrade path!

[Renoktation]

I ran the 'PC Health Check' and it informed me that my Dell XPS laptop is not compatible with the new Windows 11 but, it will continue to receive security updates. Perhaps, the game spoilers were TPM module and WDM 2.0 drivers.

With 8 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, full HD display, Intel Core i7 3rd gen 64 bit processor and 2 GB NVidia graphics card, my laptop has been working great even after 8 years. I primarily use it for Windows 10 app development and multimedia consumption. It's difficult to say how this recent change will affect me, but I am sure many people will not be in a position to upgrade to a new laptop.

Needless to say, what it does to environment when we throw away a perfectly capable computer just because someone launched a new OS that has moved the 'Start' button towards the center and added a widget launcher!

 

[robert beadles]

Or does this mean that 32 bit may get an option in the form of WinX?

 

[Sharp Ninja]

Originally posted by Renoktation
I ran the 'PC Health Check' and it informed me that my 8 years old Dell XPS laptop is not compatible with the new Windows 11 but, it will continue to receive security updates. Perhaps, the game spoilers were TPM module and WDM 2.0 drivers.

Right here is where your rant should end. Not having a modern CPU with Spectre mitigations or TPM 2.0 should be a limiting factor and I'm glad to see Microsoft moving the bar forward on security. I suspect at some point in the not too distant future that every single app will be sandboxed and systems without Virtualization Extensions will be left behind as well. And Microsoft will support Windows 10 for another 4 years, so if you insist on using old hardware you now have a deadline for buying a new computer.

 

[Toshack]

I have the same issue but mine is only 5 years old. But I checked the list of compatible processors and it looks as though this might be the issue as older CPU's do not seem to be supported.

 

[mutant 9]

5 years is long enough. It also looks like some new features from the store will land for windows 10. It is not realistic for a company to move forward 10 years of technical debt. How can they innovate?

 

[Renoktation]

How can they innovate?

Software innovations should not require hardware changes this frequently. The only solution is to decouple the two. And the best solution today may be 'cloud computing' provided they do not charge hefty annual charges.

 

[me just saying]

don't sweat it yet. I believe as the release date gets closer, what will and won't run with win11 will change. In the past, a lot of computers failed the win10 test but was still able to run it without any issues

 

[Toshack]

I agree about the 5 years; I'm in the process of building a new PC - was waiting for GPO prices to fall lol but now will wait and see

 

[Toshack]

As a follow-up I followed these instructions to change the HDD from MBR to GPT partition and from Legacy BIOS to EUFI and activate secure boot.

https://www.makeuseof.com/fix-this-pc-cant-run-windows-11-error/

It all worked fine and the pc boots up faster (should have done it ages ago lol)

However, re-running W11 check now says CPU is not supported - it's intel i5 6400 - about 5 years old

Hope this helps someone

 

[morrisok]

Sorry, my PC is two years old with TPM 2 but a 7th gen Intel i5 (not 8th gen(. Not on the list of approved CPUs. It's ridiculous. I'm hoping that the list of supported CPUs will expand during testing.

 

[neo158]

Sorry, my PC is two years old with TPM 2 but a 7th gen Intel i5 (not 8th gen(. Not on the list of approved CPUs. It's ridiculous. I'm hoping that the list of supported CPUs will expand during testing.

You might be in luck, as long as the PC meets the other requirements, as Microsoft are currently evaluating 7th gen Core processors for compatibility with Windows 11

 

[neo158]

I think Microsoft should allow hardware that doesn't meet the requirements to install Windows 11 but have a banner in Windows Update that tells you that you are running Windows 11 on unsupported hardware so you won't get official support and that drivers might not be available, in other words you install it at your own risk.

 

[nunoprime5900]

Far from an expert on the subject matter but I feel like Windows 11's "cosmetic changes" were desperately needed. You also need to remember they're pretty much visually overhauling decades old legacy components in the ENTIRE OS. By today's standards, Win 10 was starting to feel incredibly dated. Win 11 actually feels good to use and makes you want to use it, at least from a regular user's perspective.

 

[Renoktation]

I think Microsoft should allow hardware that doesn't meet the requirements to install Windows 11 but have a banner in Windows Update that tells you that you are running Windows 11 on unsupported hardware so you won't get official support and that drivers might not be available, in other words you install it at your own risk.

That's correct. Although, I personally do not rely on Microsoft for drivers or support as long as I keep on receiving security updates.

Also, minimum hardware requirement should be on the basis of technical grounds of power and performance.

While security is important, but that can be under recommended hardware requirements, not in minimum requirements.

It's all about where you draw the line and Microsoft has taken it too far this time.