14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 11 comes with updated system requirements, and the whole thing has caused quite an avalanche of criticism aimed at the software giant.
However, despite Microsoft’s restrictions, it’s still possible to get Windows 11 up and running on unsupported hardware. And this is why Microsoft is about to introduce another change that clearly wouldn’t be everybody’s cup of tea.
As discovered by WL, Windows 11 will start showing desktop watermarks on unsupported PCs running the operating system. Such a watermark reading “system requirements not met” has already been spotted in the latest Dev build in the Windows Insider program, so for now, it’s yet to make its way to production builds.
More important is whether this watermark will come with any limitations or not.
For example, the exiting Windows not activated watermark that shows up on Windows also restricts the access to certain OS features, such as the personalization setting, so it’ll be interesting to see if Microsoft uses a similar approach for this new watermark as well.
The updated requirements
Microsoft says it conducted testing and determined that running Windows 11 on unsupported hardware comes with a significantly increased likelihood of problems.
“From Windows Insider machines, those that did not meet the minimum system requirements had 52% more kernel mode crashes (blue screens) than those that did meet the requirements. Machines that met the requirements provided a 99.8% crash-free experience that is effectively managed by OEMs and IHVs through modern driver update management. Additionally, on unsupported hardware app hangs are 17% more likely and for first-party apps we see 43% more crashes,” Microsoft said.
At this point, the new watermark is still in testing, and there’s no ETA as to when it could go live on computers running the stable version of the operating system.