Windows 11 Compatibility Still An Issue

Microsoft will soon start telling Windows 10 users directly whether they'll be able to upgrade to Windows 11. It also looks likely machines that don't meet the specifications will be upgradeable but without any support.

Users can already check for compatibility using a dedicated "PC Health Check" tool. However, Microsoft is now using Windows Update to send direct messages to users who are in the Windows test program. (Source: techradar.com)

Specifically the messages are going to those in the "Release Preview" channel, which means they can access new versions of Windows when Microsoft believes they are close to ready for the general public. That suggests Microsoft may start sending out these messages to ordinary users fairly soon.

Many Users Still Miss Out

More users than originally expected will be able to upgrade as Microsoft has added several processors to its list of compatible hardware, including some older Intel chips.

However, there's no word yet on any changes to the biggest obstacle, namely Microsoft's insistence that computers have a security hardware feature called Trusted Platform Module (TPM). That will count out many computers that are otherwise powerful and modern enough to run the system.

Adding a Trusted Platform Module to a computer is technically possible in many cases but isn't an easy task. It remains to be seen if Microsoft will loosen this restriction and how affected users will respond.

Old PC's Won't Upgrade via Windows Update

Meanwhile, Microsoft has confirmed that unsupported computers can in fact get Windows 11, but that it would be a very bad idea in most cases.

That's because the compatibility checks only affect upgrades through Microsoft's Windows Update service. Users can instead upgrade an "incompatible" machine using the media creation tool and forcibly install Windows 11 using a bootable USB drive with Windows 11 install media on it

The big problem is that in this scenario, Windows Update will be disabled moving forward. That means users won't be able to install any new features or security fixes after Windows 11's release, either manually or automatically because the TPM module is missing.

Instead the only option to remain up to date and secure will be to download a new version of the media creation tool after every major Windows 11 feature update, then reinstall Windows 11 (once again) from scratch. It is unclear if the Windows 11 upgrade in this manner will mean a clean install, though that exactly what happens if you try to "upgrade" Windows 10 from bootable media. (Source: tomshardware.com)

For example: if you were to download the latest feature update of Windows 10 onto a bootable USB drive and then start the Windows 10 installer from the USB, the option for a Windows "upgrade" will result in an error message. In this case, the message would state that the user must perform the upgrade from within Windows 10 itself (after the user has logged into the machine). This leaves the only option for a "custom" installation, which requires installing a new edition of Windows altogether.

What's Your Opinion?

Have you given much though to Windows 11 compatibility? How much effort would you go to upgrade your machine to the new system? Do you think Microsoft will stick to insisting users needed a Trusted Protection Module?