Microsoft defends the minimum Windows 11 system requirements

Windows[German]After the massive uncertainty regarding the minimum system requirements for systems with Windows 11, Microsoft has published an update about these requirements on the Windows blog just in time for the release of the first Insider Preview. There, Redmond explains why certain requirements are set, but leaves some questions, for example about CPU support, unanswered.


Advertising

Blog readers pointed me to this update on Windows 11 minimum system requirements in this comment, which can be read on the Windows Blog under Update on Windows 11 minimum system requirements

Why are the requirements there?

Windows 11 is intended to be a new approach to taking PC capabilities to a new level in areas such as security, reliability, compatibility, video conferencing, multitasking, gaming, creating, building, learning and more. To do this, minimum system requirements are needed to allow Microsoft to tailor software and hardware to meet customers' perceived expectations and needs. In establishing the minimum requirements, Microsoft says it was guided by the following principles

  • Security: Windows 11 is supposed to raise the bar for security. Therefore, it requires hardware that can enable protection features such as Windows Hello, device encryption, virtualization-based security (VBS), hypervisor protected code integrity (HVCI), and Secure Boot. The combination of these features has been shown to reduce malware by 60% on tested devices. To meet the principle, all CPUs supported by Windows 11 have embedded TPM, support
  • Reliability:
  • Devices upgraded to Windows 11 are in a supported and reliable state. By selecting CPUs that have adopted the new Windows driver model and are supported by OEM and silicon partners, the goal is to achieve 99.8% crash-free performance.

  • Compatibility: Windows 11 is designed to be compatible with the applications used. It has the basics of >1GHz, 2-core processors, 4GB of memory and 64GB of storage, which are consistent with the minimum system requirements set by Microsoft for Office and Microsoft Teams.

Using the above principles, developers express confidence that devices with 8th generation Intel processors and AMD Zen 2, as well as Qualcomm 7 and 8 series devices, will meet the above principles for security and reliability, as well as the minimum system requirements for Windows 11. Microsoft plans to test whether Intel 7th generation and AMD Zen 1 devices meet these principles during the Windows Insider release and in collaboration with OEMs. As soon as results are available, they will be published.

Similar articles
Yes, Microsoft introduced Windows 11
Windows 11 Compatibility tests (PC Health Check, WhyNotWin11)
Windows 11: These features disappear
Windows 11: No TPM required?
Windows 11: First Insider Preview Build 22000.51


Advertising


Advertising

This entry was posted in Windows and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

3 Responses to Microsoft defends the minimum Windows 11 system requirements

  1. krzemien says:

    My limited knowledge in this subject indicates that the main drivers behind these seem to be so far:

    * native 4K & HVEC support [from Gen7 onwards]
    * Play Ready 3.0 [from Gen 7 onwards]
    * hardware-based SPECTRE-related fixes [from Gen8 onwards]

  2. wyxchari says:

    Windows 11… is the new Windows Vista.
    No one will install it and if it is factory installed, users will put W10 back on.

  3. EP says:

    guenni

    new announcement regarding updated Win11 system requirements and an updated PC Health Check app:

    https://blogs.windows.com/windows-insider/2021/08/27/update-on-windows-11-minimum-system-requirements-and-the-pc-health-check-app/

    seems that MS is allowing a few 7th gen Intel CPUs to support Win11 but leave out other 7th gen CPUs and Ryzen 1 (AMD Zen 1) CPUs

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Note: Please note the rules for commenting on the blog (first comments and linked posts end up in moderation, I release them every few hours, I rigorously delete SEO posts/SPAM).