Microsoft has confirmed that the Windows 11 system requirements are not changing. Windows 10 users on older PCs may not like this.
Microsoft refuses to budge from Windows 11's minimum requirements
A couple of weeks ago, Martin wrote about the possibility of Microsoft lowering the system requirements for upgrading old PCs to Windows 11, especially those that do not support hardware-level security features that are only possible with Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0. Uncompromising security or stubborn?
An updated support article (spotted by Neowin) on Microsoft's website states that "Windows 11 minimum system requirements remain unchanged". Microsoft is also advising users who installed Windows 11 on a device not meeting Windows 11 system requirements, to downgrade immediately. Wow, that is quite a bold statement, and useless.
Windows 10 was launched in 2015, it will turn 10 years old when it is retired by the Redmond company next year. That is a long time, no one can deny that Microsoft has done a good job of supporting the operating system for a decade. See, that's not the problem. The problem is millions of computers around the world will be ineligible to receive security updates, when Windows 10 reaches its end of life support in October 2025. We all saw what kind of impact a broken software could have when a faulty update by CrowdStrike's security software took down millions of PCs worldwide in June 2024. Now just imagine millions of Windows PCs that are exposed to security vulnerabilities, the impact could be much worse.
Windows 10 remains popular among users
Let's talk numbers. According to Statcounter's global stats for Desktop Windows versions, 61.82% of PC users are on Windows 10. Windows 11 has just 34.94% of the user share. Things are slightly different when it comes to gaming. Steam's Hardware Survey shows that 43.31% of players on its platform are using Windows 10, while 52.98% are on Windows 11.
Still, both surveys highlight the fact that nearly one half of PC users worldwide have not upgraded to Windows 11. This could be due to varying factors like unsupported hardware, economic conditions, Some users may do not wish to upgrade to Windows 11 for various reasons, and you can't really blame them. I mean, if a PC is working fine on Windows 10, there is no reason to stop using it. It's like the Bernie Sanders meme, "I'm once again asking your support". Come on, Microsoft! Play nice.
What about browsers? Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Brave Browser, etc., will likely be supported for a while on Windows 10. I guess the same would apply to many apps. There are way too many complications that factor in here, you can't just discard a large chunk of users just because they are on an older operating system. Not everyone can afford to lose their user base.
It won't cost much to provide security updates for Windows 10 users, will it? Windows 10 and 11 are not too dissimilar, all Microsoft probably needs to do is to do is provide the patches that are available for Windows 11, and ship them out to users who are stuck on Windows 10. Of course, Microsoft found a different solution for this issue, by launching Extended Support Updates for Windows 10. Users will need to shell out $30 a year to receive security updates.
Your other options are to upgrade your PC or buy a new one, or switch to Linux. Alternatively, you can use some third-party apps like InControl to prevent your PC from updating to Windows 11, you can find more details about it here. I use the app to block the Windows 11 24H2 update, at least until the major bugs are sorted out.
Personally, I feel that a trillion-dollar company like Microsoft that lacks in neither resources nor the manpower could, and should take the responsibility of providing security updates for older PCs, instead of choosing to leave users stranded in uncertainty.
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