After the less the useful error messages from the PC Health Check tool yesterday that threw many people into a tizz, MS have updated the tool to now at least give you an indication of where your machine may be lacking.
In my case, after enabling fTPM and setting UEFI Only in the BIOS, it turns out that my 1st Gen Ryzen processor will not be supported anyway
Which seems a little arbitrary that they’ve chosen to draw the line at CPUs that are about 4 years old. Especially when the Hardware Requirements for processors says:
According to Extreme Tech, who combed through the AMD and Intel Windows 11 supported processor lists…
Intel : No Core CPUs prior to Coffee Lake are currently listed as supported as of 4:30 PM EST on 6/25. This includes all 6th Gen and 7th Gen CPUs. I feel genuinely bad for anyone who bought a Core i7-7700K. No Intel HEDT CPUs prior to Cascade Lake are supported.
AMD : Windows 11 is currently not compatible with any Bulldozer-era CPU. It does not appear to be compatible with first-generation Threadripper systems. The 2400G and 2200G are not supported, although the 3400G and 3200G are. The Ryzen 1700X, 1800X, and all related CPUs are unsupported.
The suggestion generally is that many of these processors will fall into the “soft floor” requirements for the new OS.
Microsoft’s compatibility guide has this to say:
“There are new minimum hardware requirements for Windows 11. In order to run Windows 11, devices must meet the following specifications. Devices that do not meet the hard floor cannot be upgraded to Windows 11, and devices that meet the soft floor will receive a notification that upgrade is not advised.”
Hard Floor:
CPU: Core >= 2 and Speed >= 1 GHz
System Memory: TotalPhysicalRam >= 4 GB
Storage: 64 GB
Security: TPM Version >= 1.2 and SecureBootCapable = True
Smode: Smode is false, or Smode is true and C_ossku in (0x65, 0x64, 0x63, 0x6D, 0x6F, 0x73, 0x74, 0x71)
Soft Floor:
Security: TPMVersion >= 2.0
CPU Generation
I’m holding out hope for an updated list or a clarifying announcement or something to indicate Microsoft doesn’t actually believe it can invalidate the upgrade path for tens of millions of PC owners who haven’t bought new CPUs in the past two to four years. Nothing about this makes sense. It’s actually easier to believe it’s a mammoth communication screw-up, as opposed to a categorical attempt to ban five to seven years’ worth of current Windows users from an upgrade. Joel Hrusa / Extreme Tech
Probably will work without issue, especially those Ryzen 1000 Series and Intel Core i5 and Core i7 machines - of which there must be millions. I think it’s really just MS playing it safe, and by saying it’s “not recommended” they avoid having to deal with any potential issues. Easier to say, “We told you so. Now rollback to Win10, and carry on as before.”
As it stands now, I’ll hold off on doing my desktop until there’s enough confirmation that it doesn’t completely mess stuff up. I’ll just do the work laptop, which is a little newer and passed the check straight away, for the time being.
Yeah, 4th Gen chips ain’t anywhere near the list. You’ll be in the same “Soft Floor” situation as me (and millions of others I guess): choose your upgrade point wisely, and at your own risk.
Where theres a will theres a way, my 2010 mac pro with a core 2 based xeon isnt officially supported to run mac os catalina and yet it does with a few community made patches or how you can install windows xp on a 486 motherboard if it has a pentium overdrive cpu installed. Im sure once w11 is out there will be workarounds to get it running on older hardware
In the same boat with my 10+ year old i7 920. Was hoping to finally upgrade this year, but then prices skyrocketed so that’s not happening. #Win10LifeForMe.
I’m going to do it - Zac Bowden from Windows Central does a quick look around the first Preview Build, and it actually looks decent enough to throw onto the laptop - I won’t be needing it for the next two weeks anyway, so why not…
