Windows 11 will be free for Windows 10 users

Windows 11 will be free for Windows 10 users
Windows 11 will be free for Windows 10 users

According to the latest news, Windows 11 will come as a free upgrade for Windows 10 users however, all hardware won’t be compatible with the upgrade. Microsoft has altered its minimum hardware requirements, and the changes in terms of CPU are most surprising. Officially, Windows 11 will only support 8th Gen and newer Intel Core processors alongside Apollo Lake and newer Pentium and Celeron processors.

In simple words, this rules out literally millions of existing Windows 10 devices. It is to be noted that it also rules out Microsoft’s own Surface Studio 2 which the company is still selling at $3,499.

Thankfully, Microsoft said, older devices that don’t meet the hardware conditions will also get Windows 11. While installation of the new OS, a warning will show up that the upgrade is not recommended, but still, it can be updated.

Windows 11 will be free for Windows 10 users
Windows 11 will be free for Windows 10 users

Windows 11 will support AMD Ryzen 2000 and newer processors, 2nd Gen, or newer EPYC chips officially. If you want to check out the full list of officially supported devices then you can do that from  Microsoft’s site. The basic breakdown is:

Windows 11 for Intel

  • Intel 8th Gen (Coffee Lake)
  • Intel 9th Gen (Coffee Lake Refresh)
  • Intel 10th Gen (Comet Lake)
  • Intel 10th Gen (Ice Lake)
  • Intel 11th Gen (Rocket Lake)
  • Intel 11th Gen (Tiger Lake)
  • Intel Xeon Skylake-SP
  • Intel Xeon Cascade Lake-SP
  • Intel Xeon Cooper Lake-SP
  • Intel Xeon Ice Lake-SP

Windows 11 for AMD

  • AMD Ryzen 2000
  • AMD Ryzen 3000
  • AMD Ryzen 4000
  • AMD Ryzen 5000
  • AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2000
  • AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3000
  • AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 3000
  • AMD EPYC 2nd Gen
  • AMD EPYC 3rd Gen

Windows 11 will need a TPM capable of at least 1.2 and UEFI Secure Boot. These technologies are designed to ensure security. Microsoft required TPM support for OEM hardware certification since Windows 10 but in Windows 10, the feature wasn’t fully enabled. This will change with the new OS. It means if your laptop or PC is shipped without these BIOS options enabled then you might have to switch them on.

According to David Weston, director of enterprise and OS security at Microsoft, “Almost every CPU in the last 5-7 years has a TPM.” He is recommending Windows 10 users failing Microsoft’s Windows 11 upgrade checker requirements to ensure BIOS options for “PTT” on Intel systems and “PSP fTPM” on AMD devices are enabled or not.

Back to square one, this is the significant shift in the Windows hardware requirements launch of Windows 8 in 2012. From January 2023 onwards, all Windows 11 devices except desktop PCs will have to have a front facing camera.

Key: Microsoft

Michael Turner
Michael is the Senior Editor at TheNewsPocket. He is an environmental activist with broad, deep experience in print and online writing, publication and site management, news coverage, and editorial team management.