Microsoft is cautioning that those who take an alternative road to installing Windows 11 on unsupported hardware won’t receive software updates.
Microsoft allows you to install the Windows 11 beta through the Insider program or load it via an ISO made through the built-in Media Creation Tool. But if you choose the latter method because your machine isn’t on the supported list, you won’t receive the essential updates needed to continue safely using Windows 11.
The Verge confirmed that unsupported PCs won’t receive regular Windows updates. Microsoft may not provide security patches and drivers either.
Microsoft has a history of randomly pushing out support drivers, even for its so-called retired operating systems. There was hope that the company would take the same approach for unsupported Windows 11 hardware down the line, at least concerning essential security patches. But that’s not something to hinge your bets on, especially if you need a stable copy of Windows 11 to get through the day-to-day. Of course, if you’re the kind of person who would pursue making an ISO and installing it in the first place, you could always do your diligence in ensuring Windows 11 stays updated with the latest patches made for supported systems.
There’s some speculation that Microsoft is pursuing this particular approach to get Windows users to upgrade their hardware, regardless of necessity. And it’s hard not to come to that conclusion considering the limited support for machines running on CPUs older than Intel’s 8th-gen. AMD’s first-gen Ryzen chip is also not on the list of supported components.
If you’re curious if Microsoft will officially support your system, you can use the PC Health Check Tool, currently available to Windows Insiders. The company just updated it to let you know if your computer officially supports Windows 11. The requirements include at least a minimum of 1GHz or faster CPU, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage. Devices will also need version 2.0 of the Trusted Platform Module (TPM).