Don’t have supported hardware? Windows 11 paints a sign of shame on your desktop. The question is whether this is not just the first step before more drastic restrictions, such as the loss of updates, the threat of which is technically already on the table.
When Microsoft announced the new Windows 11 in 2021, there was quite a ruckus around the hardware requirements. This OS has the Trusted Patform Module (or even TPM2) and a relatively new generation GPU in its requirements, but the biggest surprise was that it officially supports only selected newer processors starting from 2017 to 2018. So far, Windows 11 can be used without them, but Microsoft seems to tighten the screws. The company probably wants to discourage users with old hardware, so the question is whether tougher measures will come over time.
A long time ago, there was news that in test (insider) builds of Windows, the company was testing a “function” checking whether the hardware under another installed OS meets the official requirements. And if not, it displayed a watermark on the desktop in the lower right part above the main panel bar. This watermark spoiling the impression of the system is probably intended to warn the user if he is not aware of this problem (which could happen, for example, if you buy a PC with W11 in good faith from a not entirely conscientious seller or supplier of refurbished or bazaar computers). In addition to that, the purpose of the watermark is probably to make users who use unsupported hardware on purpose to purchase a new one.
At the time, this threat was only tested in insider builds, but now reports from regular users have started to appear. From this, it seems that Microsoft may have started to introduce this inconvenience into sharp production installations of Windows 11. Probably not yet globally, and it is probably a gradual spread of the update in question as part of testing, when only a percentage of systems will receive the update first and its behavior is tested. possibly A/B comparisons can be made with installations without it.
The watermark on unsupported PCs probably reminds you of the big sign at the bottom right that appears on non-activated installations. In this case, however, it is slightly smaller and in one line, the style is more reminiscent of the inscription that historically appeared on the desktop in safe mode or that was displayed on the desktop in test beta and preview versions of the system. But it seems that it only appears over the desktop background and doesn’t bother open program windows like a watermark on non-updated Windows.
Will more brooms come on unsupported hardware?
Previously, Microsoft displayed a warning during installation and upgrades that functionality is not guaranteed on officially unsupported hardware. In particular, these warnings stated that the system might then not receive updates from Windows Update, which would essentially be a fatal problem, because without them the security deteriorates rapidly, and despite what is sometimes recommended by “folk wisdom” you really shouldn’t use an unupdated OS (for example the WannaCry ransomware epidemic spread using holes in non-updated Windows).
At first, however, there was no such denial of updates, so the outrage has probably already been largely forgotten. However, now that Microsoft has taken these demoralizing measures with the watermark, the question is whether they will also fulfill the threat of denied updates. It’s possible that the company is simply taking it one step at a time to ease the pain of this policy (and the annoyance of users).
Resources: Tom’s Hardware (1, 2), Latest
