Windows 11 Hardware Requirements
Microsoft has been very firm on windows 11's hardware requirements. Let's take a look at what laptops and desktops will be able to run it
It's time to get ready for windows 11 as Microsoft recently announced that the new OS will start rolling out on October 5th. I am here to break down all of the recently revealed hardware requirements which could keep users locked out from upgrading older machines but don't worry there may be a way to upgrade to windows 11 even if your device isn't compatible so enough chit chat these are the minimum requirements needed to run windows 11.
According to Microsoft a processor running at one gigahertz or faster with two or more cores a 64-bit processor or certain Qualcomm snapdragon systems on a chip four gigabytes of ram and 64 gigabytes or larger when it comes to your internal storage now you may look at these hardware requirements and think yeah most modern machines should be able to meet these requirements right well do i have news for you.
Requirement of two Security Settings for Windows 11
Microsoft is also requiring two security settings called secure boot and TPM 2.0. if you don't have these two things you're not installing windows 10 easily secure boot is a feature in your computer software that controls which operating systems are allowed to be active this is both a good thing and a bad thing.
On the one hand it can prevent malware from taking over your machine but on the other hand it might stop you from installing a second operating system. Meanwhile, TPM or trusted platform modules are small devices known as secure Cryptoprocessors they've been mandatory on windows machines since 2016 and they're a bit controversial because while they can prevent cyber attacks they can also potentially allow outside parties to see when you make certain changes to your computer or could restrict the kinds of software you can run windows 11.
One should wants to have both of these security settings in place the reason why well to keep your device more secure at least according to Microsoft but to make things simpler. Microsoft is going to re-release its pc health checker app soon this can tell you if your computer can run windows 11 and if not it'll give you the reason why and some potential workarounds these hardware requirements are definitely more intense than they were for windows 10.
The reason being both performance and security Microsoft did some testing and they found that devices that did not meet the minimum requirements had way more freezes and also way more blue screen of death crashes than those that did.
If you're wondering what laptop models will run windows 11 a few popular ones include the dell xps 13 or newer the hp specter x360 14 or newer the lenovo think pad and the Samsung galaxy book pro along with a bunch of others. So then what do you do if you get the bad news that your computer is not compatible with windows 11 don't worry there is a workaround but it's not for everyone
Microsoft says that even on older devices you may be able to manually download windows 11 through either the windows insider program or through Microsoft's media creation tool which a lot of people use to upgrade to windows 10 for free. But if you do this be warned that Microsoft will not support this version of windows 11 that means you won't get updates you won't get security patches and that could leave your computer vulnerable to cyber attacks so proceed with caution or just stick with windows 10 which Microsoft will keep supporting through 2025.
Latest Update on Windows 11
Windows 11 will start rolling out as a free update on October 5th but don't expect to get it right away new devices will come first and the rest will depend on your hardware and the age of your device Microsoft doesn't expect to finish upgrading all eligible devices until mid 2022 so it could be a while before the upgrade comes your way there's a chance we're going to get more windows 11 compatibility news soon since Microsoft is holding an event on September 22nd where we're expecting to see some new service devices and of course there's going to be a ton of news tips and tricks coming once windows 11 actually launches so make sure you subscribe to follow all of our windows 11 coverage here on Wonderland.