Worried that your organization won’t have the right hardware to run Windows 11? Microsoft hears your cries. But when it comes to the requirements needed to install Windows 11, they’re not going to do anything about it.
Microsoft doubles-down on Windows 11 requirements
The company just put out an “Ask Microsoft Anything” video where Microsoft tech experts explain what you will need to run Windows 11 — although the requirements seem unnecessarily restrictive to many IT admins tasked with installing the operating system. With a beta version of Windows 11 out, many IT pros have been trying to fiddle around with the hardware requirements to get older machines to run the OS. One of the things Microsoft hammered home in the video is that this will not be possible with the final release of Windows 11.
‘Hardware enforcement’
Windows 11 will automatically check your computer’s requirements, and if it doesn’t pass, it won’t allow the download. Some IT pros have been able to tweak the registry’s Group Policy to allow the beta to download even if their machines don’t have the necessary requirements. But Microsoft senior program manager Aria Carley said in the video that this type of IT MacGyvering will not get around the “hardware enforcement” in the Windows 11 final version. “We’re still going to block you from upgrading your device to an unsupported state since we really want to make sure that your devices stay supported and secure,” Carley said.
We know it sucks that some aren’t going to be eligible for Windows 11. But the great thing to remember is the reason we’re doing that is to keep to devices more productive, have a better experience, and better security than ever before so they can stay protected in this new workforce.
— Aria Carley, Microsoft senior program manager
What about TPM?
A major topic continues to swirl around the Trusted Platform Module (TPM), specifically TPM 2.0. Having the TPM chip on your computer is a requirement to run Windows 11. The confusion stems because many older computers don’t have TPM 2.0. Additionally, some that do have the TPM chip don’t have it enabled. In either case, the computer will fail Microsoft’s minimum requirements to install Windows 11.
You can check out the entire Ask Microsoft Anything video below.
[tg_youtube video_id=”y7rEtZ6Othg”]
Featured image: Shutterstock
