14 DAY TRIAL // Back in 2021 when Microsoft announced Windows 11, one of the biggest changes the new operating system came with did not concern the new features but the computers where it was supposed to be installed.
Windows 11 was therefore offered with upgraded system requirements, essentially leaving behind plenty of devices which, at least at first glance, seemed perfectly capable of running the OS.
Leaving aside the controversy produced by this approach, Windows 11 was therefore blocked on plenty of computers.
The upgrade mysteriously showed up on unsupported devices last year, despite Microsoft clearly stating that computers not meeting the system requirements would stick with Windows 10 until 2025 when the support comes to an end.
And earlier this week, the whole thing happened again, with Microsoft once again offering the upgrade to Windows 11 to unsupported devices due to what Microsoft describes as an accident.
In a post on the Windows Health Dashboard, Microsoft says that the computers offered the upgrade were not allowed to complete the installation of Windows 11 anyway. The issue has already been resolved, the company claims.
“Some hardware ineligible Windows 10 and Windows 11, version 21H2 devices were offered an inaccurate upgrade to Windows 11. These ineligible devices did not meet the minimum requirements to run Windows 11. Devices that experienced this issue were not able to complete the upgrade installation process. This issue was detected on February 23, 2023, and resolved on the same day,” Microsoft explains.
The company still recommends users to stick with Windows 10 if their devices do not meet the system requirements to run Windows 11. Windows 10 will receive updates until 2025, at which point this OS version will be retired. Upgrading the hardware will become the only option, as otherwise, no further security updates would be available.