Microsoft Says You Will Be Able To Install Windows 11 On Older Computers, But There's A Catch

Microsoft Crop MSFT has indicated that PCs with older CPUs will still be able to install Windows 11 when it becomes available later this year, but doing so may lead to issues with software updates.

What Happened: Microsoft has confirmed that customers with CPUs older than Intel 8th Generation won’t be blocked from installing Windows 11, but will need to download and manually install an ISO file by themselves, according to The Verge. The tech giant is also indicating that unsupported PCs will not receive Window Updates, including security and driver updates.

Millions of computers may be affected by Microsoft’s decision, as some consumers may take the steps of installing Windows 11 manually, but the majority will likely not make the effort. The minimum Windows 11 specs are that you have a 64-bit 1GHz processor with two or more cores, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage.

What’s Next: Microsoft has now included Intel’s Core X-series and Xeon W-series as being officially supported for Windows 11 upgrades, along with Intel’s Core 7820HQ chip that’s inside the Surface Studio 2.

Microsoft will be updating its PC Health Check app to include the new Intel CPUs and provide additional information on why your PC might not be able to officially upgrade. The new PC checker app will also let Windows users know if they need to simply enable Secure Boot or TPM 2.0 to upgrade.

A recent tweet from Microsoft indicates Windows 11 is set to be released on October 20, 2021.