Windows 11 Will Leave Millions of PCs Behind, and Microsoft is Struggling to Explain Why
An Anonymous Coward writes:
Windows 11 will officially support Intel 8th Gen Coffee Lake or Zen 2 CPUs and up, leaving behind millions of PCs that were sold during the launch of Windows 10.
[...] After much confusion last week, Microsoft attempted to explain its hardware requirements again yesterday, and it sounds like the main driver behind these changes is security. Coupled with Microsoft's hardware requirements is a push to enable a more modern BIOS (UEFI) that supports features like Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 (Trusted Platform Module).
takyon writes:
If your machine does not have a dedicated TPM chip, your CPU may have an equivalent built-in. Specifically, Intel integrates Platform Trust Technology (Intel PTT) in its modern processors, while AMD uses something called PSP fTPM. Many motherboard manufacturers disable these by default, but you can enable them from within your motherboard's BIOS. Every BIOS is different, so we would recommend reading your motherboard's manual first. For example, Gigabyte stored the AMD PSP fTPM setting under Advanced CPU Settings.
In short, you do not necessarily need to rush out and purchase a TPM chip to run Windows 11 on your desktop machine. Hopefully, Microsoft clarifies this in its Windows 11 system requirements at some stage, because Intel and AMD do not readily market their PTT and PSP fTPM technologies as TPM 2.0 alternatives. Microsoft has also released its inaugural Windows 11 Insider Preview build and has updated its processor requirements to accommodate the Zen 1 and 7th Generation Core families.
See also: WhyNotWin11: A tool that is much better than Microsoft at detailing why a PC is not Windows 11 compatible
Users get Windows 11 running on a Lumia 950 XL and Raspberry Pi 4
Windows 11: Microsoft's Director of OS Security explains the tough CPU requirements for Win 11
How to bypass the Windows 11 TPM 2.0 requirement
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