Microsoft have tried to further clarify what the minimum system requirements are for Windows 11 through a blog post today, but this has left many confused.
The post states that the Intel 6th Gen Skylake and earlier CPUs will not meet “principles around security and reliability and minimum system requirements for Windows 11.” This lines up with the original statement that said Windows 11 will require Intel 8th Gen Coffee Lake or Zen 2 CPUs and up but there might be some hope for 7th Gen users.
Things get confusing again as the Insider Build of Windows 11 which launched today will not require TPM 2.0 or specific CPUs. Microsoft will use the data from testers to inform potential changes to the minimum requirements. They will also be paying close attention to 7th Gen CPU users and AMD Zen 1 CPUs to see if the performance is up to standard.
This confirms the fear that many had about Microsoft not supporting older CPUs with Windows 11. In the blog post, Microsoft claims that the reason Windows 11 won’t run on those CPUs is to maintain a higher level of security, stability, and reliability.
Microsoft have also temporarily removed the PC Health Check App which informed users if they could update to Windows 11. The company says the app “was not fully prepared to share the level of detail or accuracy” that users expected, but it said the app would be available again for Windows 11’s launch in the fall.
