In less than two weeks, Microsoft will launch Windows 11, and one of the big questions ahead of the rollout is whether your PC is compatible with the new operating system.
Windows 11 will be available as a free upgrade to PCs on the market, and official figures from Microsoft show that there are over 1.3 billion devices running Windows 10, in addition to a few million with Windows 7 and Windows 8.
Not all of these devices will be upgradeable.
TEST: Impressive
Stricter requirements for Windows 11
The reason is that Microsoft places higher demands on hardware that will run Windows 11. Previously, it was considered to have a PC that was powerful enough to run the latest version of Windows, but now there are also requirements for security and processor.
The abbreviation TPM, which stands for Trusted Platform Module, and processor year are two things that recur.
Among other things, Windows 11 requires an 8th generation Intel Core processor, AMD Ryzen 2000 or later, with a few caveats:
The following processors are supported by Windows 11 – both are 7th generation Intel Core chips:
- Intel Core X og Xeon W
- Intel Core 7820HQ, som sitter i Surface Studio
Launched without major news
TPM is a security module whose main task is to protect the data on your PC, and according to Microsoft is so useful for security that they have set it as an absolute requirement for Windows 11.
Among other things, the technology can make it difficult for hackers to take over your PC.
Many of today’s PCs come with TPM 2.0 on board, according to Microsoft this has been standard in recent years, but several also have only version 1.2 of TPM. Other machines do not have the chip at all.
If you have TPM 2.0 enabled, you do not need to think about it anymore, while TPM 1.2 versions can in many cases be updated to 2.0.
You get this information from your PC manufacturer, who in many cases has a firmware update available for BIOS / UEFI.
Geir Reiulfsen, product and purchasing manager in the online store Multicom, tells Dinside that the TPM requirement is not necessarily a problem for those with newer PCs.
In fact, the online store has contacted customers who have ordered a TPM module and informed them that they may not need it.
If your PC does not have a TPM module, or can not be upgraded to version 2.0, you can in many cases purchase a TPM 2.0 module separately and install it in the PC. Which is most relevant for desktops.
If you have a desktop PC, you can probably upgrade both the TPM chip and the processor, but it is worse with laptops.
This should make Mac users jealous
Can you install Windows 11 anyway?
Then the question is whether you can install Windows 11 even if your PC is not supported. The answer to that is yes. You can probably install a clean version of Windows 11 manually, but it has a big catch.
Microsoft has stated that PCs that do not fully support the system requirements, but on which you install Windows 11 yourself, will not receive updates. Using an out-of-date PC is something we strongly advise against for security reasons.
In fact, Windows 11 testers running the beta on an unsupported device get message to downgrade to Windows 10.
How to check
When Microsoft announced Windows 11 in June, they released a small “check if the PC can be upgraded” program for Windows 10, but the software was deficient and was removed shortly afterwards.
Now the program, called Condition Check for PC, has been updated and is available to all users, and you can use it to check if your PC can be upgraded.
Condition control for PC you can download here. After installing the program, open it and press “Check Now” under “Introducing Windows 11”.
Here you get a quick answer about whether your PC meets the system requirements for Windows 11, and what may be that your PC can not be upgraded.
In our example below we have enough memory, storage space, fast enough processor and support for secure startup, but not surprisingly the processor is too old and TPM 2.0 is not enabled.
The current TPM version on the PC is TPM 1.2, but it can actually be upgraded to TPM 2.0 as the manufacturer has released an upgrade tool.
The processor is worse – it has to be replaced with a newer one before we get Windows 11 installed.
Can’t get upgraded?
If your PC is too old or cannot be upgraded to meet the system requirements of Windows 11, you must continue to use Windows 10, or the operating system you are using today.
For Windows 10 users, it’s nice to know that the operating system is supported with updates, including security updates, until 2025, so you can continue to use it until then.
However, Windows 7 is no longer supported, while Windows 8.1 is supported until January 10, 2023.
Launched in early October
Microsoft launches Windows 11 on October 5. As usual, the upgrade will take place in pools, and you will be notified in Windows Update when Windows 11 is ready for your PC.
If you want to upgrade manually – if you have a compatible PC – you will probably be able to download Windows 11 directly from Microsoft, but the company recommends that you wait until the operating system appears in Windows Update.
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