PCA Forums

I'm a Windows Insider subscriber, so I got the email today.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows ... r_announce

Interestingly the minimum specs seem to confirm that UEFI and Secure Boot is required, and you must have a TMP 2.0 chip, so older hardware may not be able to install it:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows ... ifications

The guys playing with the leaked version noticed that it wouldn't install on old hardware that didn't have a TPM chip, and Secure boot had to be enabled. Although they found a simple workaround.

I'd prefer not to enable Secure boot, but I don't have a choice on my Surface tablet or my HP Laptop. It's not a real big deal anymore, but I've been in the habit of disabling it.

What the hell is a TPM chip? I also saw on the news that it will be released by the end of this year.

All computers made in the last 14+ years have TPM chips. It's necessary for Secure Boot to work. It's a secure cryptographic chip.

Is there a way to test for this chip?

Press the Windows + R keys on the keyboard to open a command prompt. Type tpm.msc and press Enter on the keyboard. Check that the status for TPM in the management console shows as Ready.

If you aren't an admin user, you need to run it as admin.

You'll get a window showing the status and version number support of the TPM.

https://www.isumsoft.com/computer/how-t ... -chip.html

So I'm guessing, that since this is supposed to be released 'for the holidays' that it will be an optional upgrade offered through Windows Update with it's own update track. Because there is still a Win10 21H2 feature update scheduled for October.

Makes sense. Corporate users will want to continue using Win10 as long as they can, so it will continue getting security updates until 2025. But I wouldn't be surprised if there are few feature updates after 21H2. That would suit me fine. 4 years of a stable Win 10 without any more feature creep would be a nice change.

I do intend to install it on my Surface Pro 7 tablet as soon as it's available, as reports are that it greatly improves the touch screen experience.

Microsoft officially unveiled Windows 11 today, and the software maker is committing to make it a free upgrade for Windows 10 users. Much like how Windows 10 was free for Windows 7 and Windows 8 users, this new Windows 11 version will be free for existing Windows 10 users.

All you’ll need is a PC that meets the minimum hardware requirements for Windows 11, which is now a 64-bit CPU, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage. Windows 11 will be delivered through Windows Update in much the same way as Windows 10 updates have been made available previously.

https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/24/2254 ... de-details

Thanks for the info for testing, and I don't have it "compatible TPM cannot be found". I'm using Asus Z170-K mobo.

More details:

Why Windows 11 is forcing everyone to use TPM chips
https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2 ... t-security

My MPG Z390 GAMING PRO CARBON only has a TPM header. I guess I won't be getting Windows 11 unless Microsoft changes their policy.

More info here on TPM: https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/25/2255 ... t-security

So some companies may come out with a BIOS update if your CPU supports it. I'll have to check my BIOS to see if there is an option to turn it on.

I just ran the compatibility check for 11, and my results for my Dell E6540 laptop: https://aka.ms/GetPCHealthCheckApp

This PC can't run Windows 11
The PC must support secure boot

I have it as legacy so I just need to enable UEFI. I have TPM enabled now.

BE AWARE: If you enable UEFI and secure boot, you won't be able to boot into your install of Windows. It will require a re-install. It won't hurt anything if you enable it and try to boot, it just won't work, because your install wasn't created with UEFI and Secure Boot, and your boot partition isn't GPT. If you switch it back to legacy it'll boot just fine.

There are some tricks to workaround that (doing a repair install and manually converting the boot partition to GPT) but it's not easy or reliable. In my experience there is no easy way to change your boot type from legacy to Secure Boot (or vice-a-versa) without nuking the whole boot partition.

I wouldn't worry about it. First off, Win10 is good until 2025 and secondly, there's a good chance MS will allow some kind of under the radar method to install Win11 in a legacy boot mode.

Yeah I'm not concerned, since I waited until 2018 to make the jump from 7 to 10.

I did find these instructions:
https://www.wintips.org/how-to-change-l ... indows-10/

Windows 11 doesn't officially support first-gen AMD Ryzen CPUs, but don't panic just yet
https://www.pcgamer.com/windows-11-cpu- ... amd-intel/

New GitHub app details precisely why your PC cannot upgrade to Windows 11
https://www.windowscentral.com/whynotwi ... 1-hardware