A couple of days ago, Microsoft revealed the official CPU requirements for Windows 11. As we claimed, and despite what some believed, Windows 11 will indeed require an 8th generation Intel Core or a 2nd generation AMD Ryzen CPU. Thankfully, though, Microsoft may lower these CPU requirements in the future.
As Microsoft stated in a new blog post.
“We are confident that devices running on Intel 8th generation processors and AMD Zen 2 as well as Qualcomm 7 and 8 Series will meet our principles around security and reliability and minimum system requirements for Windows 11. As we release to Windows Insiders and partner with our OEMs, we will test to identify devices running on Intel 7th generation and AMD Zen 1 that may meet our principles. We’re committed to sharing updates with you on the results of our testing over time, as well as sharing additional technical blogs.”
What this basically means is that after this first testing phase, Microsoft may lower the CPU requirements of Windows 11. However, do note that nothing is set in stone yet. Thus, and at least for now, we suggest paying attention to the current official CPU requirements.
In its blog post, Microsoft tried to explain the decision to raise the minimum CPU requirements for Windows 11. According to the team, they had to increase them for security, reliability and compatibility reasons. However, this sounds like damage control – at least in my opinion – and nothing more.
As we’ve already stated, DirectStorage will also be available exclusively on Windows 11. So yeah, this will be a really rough launch for this new operating system.
Let’s now hope that Microsoft will address some of its ridiculous decisions before its launch.
Windows 11 will release in late 2021/early 2022!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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