Good news! Microsoft has announced that it will allow users to install Windows 11 on all modern hardware, including 1st Gen Ryzen and 6th and 7th Gen Core processors. There is a catch, though. You won’t be able to upgrade your PC directly from Windows 10 to 11 if you are running older hardware, not in the official requirement list. Instead, you’ll have to download the Windows 11 ISO from the official Microsoft website and do a clean install.
On the flip side, the official processor requirements are largely unchanged, and if you are running a 64-bit processor not included in the above list (1st Gen Ryzen/7th Gen Core or below), you’ll have to download the ISO separately and format your drive. But hey. At least now you don’t have to go around downloading some tweaked ISO files from some shady server to install the OS on your old PCs.
Microsoft Demos how to Install Windows 11 on 1st Gen Ryzen and Intel 6th/7th Gen Processors
According to Microsoft, this install workaround is meant for business users to evaluate Windows 11, and people upgrading (without meeting the official requirements) will be doing so at their own risk. The software giant does not guarantee driver compatibility and system reliability on such PCs. As such, it doesn’t recommend or advertise this method of installing Windows 11 to consumers.
To install Windows 11 on older systems the ISO way, you still need to meet the basic requirements. These include a paltry 64-bit 1GHz processor with two or more cores, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage. A few select Skylake parts have also been added to the official list of supported processors. These include the following:
- Intel® Core™ X-series, Xeon® W-series
- Intel® Core™ 7820HQ (only select devices that shipped with modern drivers based on Declarative, Componentized, Hardware Support Apps (DCH) design principles, including Surface Studio 2)