Upgrade my 'unsupported' hardware to Win 11 or stick with Win 10?

Hi Chaps,

I have three desktop systems and one laptop, all of which are technically not supported under Windows 11 (they only have TMP v1.2).

I've actually recently installed the latest Windows 11 on two of the desktops and they both work well and received the usual updates.

However, I'm concerned that Microsoft, in their wisdom, may crack-down on these sort of installs in the future, so I'm thinking it may be safer (from a software security point of view) to simply keep all of my systems on Windows 10 until supports ends (2025?), then jump ship to MacOS or Linux, after which I'd run any Windows-only apps in network-isolated virtual machines on whatever host OS I end up on...

The hardware I'm using still has plenty of life/processing-power, etc and I'm not planning on upgrading any time soon, certainly not until well after the current EOL for Win 10.

I know this may be a moot question, but what do other recommend/suggest?

Cheers,

Mike.

Honestly your PCs would have to be at least 10 years old to still be running TPM 1.2 as most PCs built after 2014 are on TPM 2.0.

That said, what's probably keeping your system unsupported is the CPU. You'd need at least an 8th Gen processor to meet 11 requirements. I've 4 PC's and only my main rig running an i9-9900K is running Windows 11 and fully supported. The other 3 PCs fail because of their processor, not for TPM.

mingle said:

However, I'm concerned that Microsoft, in their wisdom, may crack-down on these sort of installs in the future,

Click to expand...

By doing what ?? Bit Chicken Little & tin foil hat-ish.

Just do it - clean up then image the existing W10 installation

Then Rufus with bypass settings + current Win11 ISO > boot installation USB > wipe all partitions > clean install

Or, remove existing drive (keeps current system intact), clean install on a new blank SSD

I am on Windows 10 and plan to stay there for the indefinite future.
Even if I have to pay some hush money to Microsoft to keep Windows 10.
Then when Microsoft finally sees there is still no mass movement to Win 11,
they will magically remove the TPM2.0 and processor restrictions
for running Win 11, allowing Win 10 users to easily upgrade any Win 10
system to Win 11.

LMFAO on this forum if you type "M" and "$" it gets magically translated to "Microsoft" ...

mingle said:

Hi Chaps,

I have three desktop systems and one laptop, all of which are technically not supported under Windows 11 (they only have TMP v1.2).

I've actually recently installed the latest Windows 11 on two of the desktops and they both work well and received the usual updates.

However, I'm concerned that Microsoft, in their wisdom, may crack-down on these sort of installs in the future, so I'm thinking it may be safer (from a software security point of view) to simply keep all of my systems on Windows 10 until supports ends (2025?), then jump ship to MacOS or Linux, after which I'd run any Windows-only apps in network-isolated virtual machines on whatever host OS I end up on...

The hardware I'm using still has plenty of life/processing-power, etc and I'm not planning on upgrading any time soon, certainly not until well after the current EOL for Win 10.

I know this may be a moot question, but what do other recommend/suggest?

Cheers,

Mike.

Click to expand...

Yes, posters on this forum, and elsewhere, are debating a similar question:


Looks a possibility that things could change when Windows 11 version 22H4 arrives.

Besides, Windows 12 is only just round the corner. So, maybe, hang on and see what the requirements for Win 12 are? If your machines are healthy, then you have choices available to you.

mingle said:

However, I'm concerned that Microsoft, in their wisdom, may crack-down on these sort of installs in the future

Click to expand...

Word is that they possibly will be.

mingle said:

simply keep all of my systems on Windows 10 until supports ends (2025?)

Click to expand...

You need to go with your gut instincts. At the end of the day, what does Windows 11 do for you that Windows 10 doesn’t?

mingle said:

then jump ship to MacOS

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OH MY GOD MAN… WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?… OMG THE HUMANITY… THE HUMANITY…

mingle said:

I'm not planning on upgrading any time soon, certainly not until well after the current EOL for Win 10.

Click to expand...

If it works for you, stay with it? Unless you have plenty of time on your hands. There is always screwing around to do when upgrading.

AK6DN said:

I am on Windows 10 and plan to stay there for the indefinite future.
Even if I have to pay some hush money to Microsoft to keep Windows 10.
Then when Microsoft finally sees there is still no mass movement to Win 11,
they will magically remove the TPM2.0 and processor restrictions
for running Win 11, allowing Win 10 users to easily upgrade any Win 10
system to Win 11.

Click to expand...

Yeah, good luck with that pipe dream all the way around.

If we stayed stuck in the mud we'd still be riding in horse and carriages and using wall mounted rotary phones 2024

Dru2 said:

Yeah, good luck with that pipe dream all the way around.

If we stayed stuck in the mud we'd still be riding in horse and carriages and using wall mounted rotary phones 2024

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Well more likely I'll stick with Windows 10 forever, either on my real 128GB 16core Xeon desktop,
or I'll convert it to Linux and run Windows 10 in a Virtualbox VM. I have a Virtualbox VM with
Windows 11 in it, and I see exactly zero benefit to switching to Win11 vs Win10. YMMV.

Hold on, be back in a minute, my wall mounted rotary phone is ringing ...

mingle said:

.. keep all of my systems on Windows 10 until supports ends (2025?), then jump ship to MacOS ...

Click to expand...

Which will require new, expensive machines, the cost of which will be much greater than upgrading your existing machines to be compliant.

mingle said:

I have three desktop systems and one laptop, all of which are technically not supported under Windows 11 (they only have TMP v1.2).

I've actually recently installed the latest Windows 11 on two of the desktops and they both work well and received the usual updates.

However, I'm concerned that Microsoft, in their wisdom, may crack-down on these sort of installs in the future, so I'm thinking it may be safer (from a software security point of view) to simply keep all of my systems on Windows 10 until supports ends (2025?)

Click to expand...

Windows 10 has an EoL of 14 October 2025.

Although I have supported devices, I have been testing running Windows 11 on some unsupported devices too, at least one has run W11 since the launch in 2021. Up to now an unsupported device has got all the cumulative updates through Windows Update, same as any supported device. What it doesn't get offered in Windows Update is the Feature Update to the next version. For that a manual upgrade using a workaround is required.

MS do seem to be making it more difficult to bypass the requirements for the next version 24H2, which is in the Insider channels at the moment and due for release around October this year - difficult but still not impossible.

There is is one new requirement for 24H2 that is impossible to bypass though, 24H2 requires a CPU that supports the PopCnt instruction. Without it Windows cannot even boot. I've checked all my unsupported devices and almost all of them can run 24H2. See HERE for how I checked.

A CPU without PopCnt can run 23H2, but nothing newer than that. Windows 11 23H2 has an EoL of 11 November 2025.

mingle said:

However, I'm concerned that Microsoft, in their wisdom, may crack-down on these sort of installs in the future, so I'm thinking it may be safer (from a software security point of view) to simply keep all of my systems on Windows 10 until supports ends (2025?), then jump ship to MacOS or Linux, after which I'd run any Windows-only apps in network-isolated virtual machines on whatever host OS I end up on...

Click to expand...

To be certain that your systems work in the near future, indeed it would be the safest bet to stick with Windows 10. But since you have already upgraded to Windows 11 and it works, I see no reason to switch back to 10 unless you run into problems. But I would instead make sure to be ready to downgrade when issues occur.

As you mentioned, jumping ships is also an alternative. For the machines you have now, Linux is a good alternative. Choose something simple and well supported and don't go with the "I installed this exotic distro to be cool"-flock. Afterall you probably want your system to be reliable without any extra tinkering and the software you need to run smoothly.

Apples products are also very appealing today. They are energy efficient and very fast. I would personally own a MacBook or even a Mac Pro today, if it wasn't for the stupid policies they come up with at Apple to stay as a monopoly and get even more money in their ecosystem. Apple products have very good tools for day to day tasks, which are way more polished than any Windows or Linux counterparts.

In the end you decide, but what i would personally do, is install Linux on one of your computers now and get used to using that machine as a daily driver. The transition from Windows to Linux or MacOS is not that straight forward as there is a learning curve and it will take time to find the software that suits your needs.

Don't listen to extreme opinions about (especially Apple) products they claim being garbage or a stupid choice. All systems has their pros and cons, including Windows. Personally I use both Windows and Linux and would go for a Mac too, if I could afford one at the moment.

I hope this opinion helps.

idgat said:

By doing what ?? Bit Chicken Little & tin foil hat-ish.

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Not at all, the install media for the Insider builds of 24H2 have already disabled most of the known workarounds.

Thanks for all of the useful comments and suggestions - I wasn't aware that the next iteration of Win 11 would bugger things up for me...

I've used Linux Mint (xfce) for a several years now and only a few things have kept it from being my 'daily driver'.

My girls use macbooks for school and I've tinkered with them a bit and really dislike some of the stupid design 'features' - no backspace key (WTF!).

MacOS would come at the bottom of my list of choices, as it has so many counter-intuitive annoyances - it's almost like you have your hands tied behind your back when trying to do simple things

I'm far more comfortable with Linux and the command-line! I'd actually go as far as to say Linux Mint is better than MacOS...

I can easily wind-back my Win 11 updates, as I still have disk images of my Win 10 systems.

To be honest, there's not a lot of reason for me to upgrade to Win 11 atm, but I always feel it's go to stay up to date (with the OS, if not the hardware!)

Cheers,

Mike.

mingle said:

Thanks for all of the useful comments and suggestions - I wasn't aware that the next iteration of Win 11 would bugger things up for me...

Click to expand...

Only really stuck if your CPU doesn't have the PopCnt instruction, and that first appeared in 2008. Have you checked your CPUs yet?

If not, see: Microsoft's upcoming change could block off Windows 11 CPU requirements bypass on old PCs - post #25

I have had no issues running win 11 with updates yet on old hardware even on a core 2 quad which now runs 23H2
My thinking is MS is not going to stop current working installs of 11 from running if it is working now on older hardware. They will just eventually stop ability to upgrade to higher versions. You will not be offered upgrades in windows update on older hardware that does not meet their requirements. Whole thing is like a nothing burger. Don't force an install of 24H2 if the CPU does not have POPCNT as it won't boot.

I've very recently upgraded a 9 yr old incompatible desktop from 10 to 11 but have attempted to protect myself from future problems by keeping a restorable image of my Win 10 system, an action which I believe someone else has already suggested. Having said that, apart from 11 not having an end date, there aren't any other tangible gains from the upgrade and the upgrade itself has caused considerable extra work getting all aspects of the system to behave just as 10 did.

I took the plunge and upgraded my last W10 device...,
I'm pleased with it, albeit a compatible device, it's cleaner, more fluid, performance is superior and, there's a sense of familiarity across all my devices.

i run w11 on 4770k and runs fine even a bit faster than win 10 just remember to install mei drivers for your chipset from win 10

Bree said:

Only really stuck if your CPU doesn't have the PopCnt instruction, and that first appeared in 2008. Have you checked your CPUs yet?

If not, see: Microsoft's upcoming change could block off Windows 11 CPU requirements bypass on old PCs - post #25

Click to expand...

According to CPU-Z, my processor (i7 4790s) supports SSE 4.2, so I should be okay...

mingle said:

According to CPU-Z, my processor (i7 4790s) supports SSE 4.2, so I should be okay...

Click to expand...

While I've not deep dived into Brees post, on PopCnt, I still do know Windows 11 "officially" requires at least an 8th Gen processor to pass its qualification test, where a 4th gen i7-4790K will fail the test.

So, while I can't speak on whether the OS will boot or not based of whether the i7-4790 supports PopCnt or not, it's still not a supported processor as it's only 4th gen. This is Intel - note the i7-4790 anything isn't listed...
And BTW, I still have mine (17-4790K) though the system is inactive.