toms hardware Microsoft: You Can't Get Around Windows 11 Requirements

[ENTERPRISE]

Quote

Microsoft is sticking to its guns with Windows 11’s minimum requirements, with Microsoft Program Manager Aria Carley saying in a recent AMA webcast that your PC won’t even allow itself to download the upgrade if it doesn’t meet Microsoft’s standards.

 

Windows 11’s minimum requirements have caused a bit of an uproar ever since they were first announced alongside the OS earlier this June. Key points of concern were the need for TPM 2.0, an up-to-now obscure security feature that’s so niche that most standalone motherboards automatically disable it in their BIOS, as well as a strict CPU compatibility list. 

Source

 

Personally, I do not agree with the Windows 11 requirements. That being said, Microsoft surely knows that even once Win 11 has gone RTM, some clever clogs will be able to create a version to bypass these new requirements. 

 

The only thing MS can do to "punish" those who use a bypassed version would be to restrict windows update functions or to prevent activation among other things. However, again, these can be worked around.

 

I guess you have to weigh up messing around to get Win 11 functional on your PC vs sucking it up and making hardware alterations to be fully compliant.

[UltraMega]

Not ideal but it doesn't bother me too much. The cut off is basically ddr3 and PCs that don't have 4k copywriting hardware. Doesn't sound like 11 really does anything new except run on arm so I don't see it as an issue for people with legacy hardware.

[Diffident]

Quote

While Microsoft has since said that it’s testing Intel 7th gen CPUs with Windows 11, the first Windows 11 system requirements list said that you’d need to have at least an 8th gen Intel CPU or 2nd gen Ryzen CPU to upgrade to the new OS. For some context, Intel’s 8th generation launched as recently as 2017.

 

 

Just install Linux, no need for TPM 2.0 or Secureboot.

[tictoc]

3 hours ago, Diffident said:

 

 

Just install Linux, no need for TPM 2.0 or Secureboot.

 

Unless you want it, and then you're free to roll your own keys and encryption.

 

The AMA from the source is more or less worthless unless you were looking for an advertisement for Windows "cloud" services.

It will be interesting to see how this evolves.  Looks like jailbreaking Windows will be a thing in the future. It will also be interesting to see how in place upgrades work. I guess mbr2gpt will now be a part of the Windows installer.

 

Outside of this being the first step for more intrusive and restrictive DRM, I don't really see the point of secure boot and TPM being a requirement.  If anyone has it, I'd love to see a link to the non-marketing, actual engineering reasons behind these requirements.  "It makes your device more secure" has zero substance. 

 

The minimum CPU requirements are even more absurd.  If there is so much focus on helping me secure my device, then why is Microsoft even letting me run an 8700k?  What kind of "testing" are they doing that would make such an arbitrary minimum CPU requirement?

Edited July 28, 2021 by tictoc
typos, formatting

[cscoder4ever]

On 27/07/2021 at 14:14, Diffident said:

Just install Linux, no need for TPM 2.0 or Secureboot.

This is what I did for my desktop that supposedly would not support windows 11

 

It's almost like they want to kill Windows to push Windows 365

Edited July 29, 2021 by cscoder4ever

[steakikan]

On 28/07/2021 at 07:51, tictoc said:

 

Unless you want it, and then you're free to roll your own keys and encryption.

 

The AMA from the source is more or less worthless unless you were looking for an advertisement for Windows "cloud" services.

It will be interesting to see how this evolves.  Looks like jailbreaking Windows will be a thing in the future. It will also be interesting to see how in place upgrades work. I guess mbr2gpt will now be a part of the Windows installer.

 

Outside of this being the first step for more intrusive and restrictive DRM, I don't really see the point of secure boot and TPM being a requirement.  If anyone has it, I'd love to see a link to the non-marketing, actual engineering reasons behind these requirements.  "It makes your device more secure" has zero substance. 

 

The minimum CPU requirements are even more absurd.  If there is so much focus on helping me secure my device, then why is Microsoft even letting me run an 8700k?  What kind of "testing" are they doing that would make such an arbitrary minimum CPU requirement?

Agree, TPM doesn't make sense at all. Does it protect rootkit, ransomware, spyware or malware? At best it blocks malware on UEFI level.

[ENTERPRISE]

3 hours ago, steakikan said:

Agree, TPM doesn't make sense at all. Does it protect rootkit, ransomware, spyware or malware? At best it blocks malware on UEFI level.

That is all it does the be honest. It is certainly not the holy grail of security.

[Diffident]

TPM will do nothing for security.  More and more games are moving to Ring 0 (rookits) forms of anti-cheat...so I don't think TPM stops rootkits.  Ring 0 is a higher privilege level than device drivers.  Nothing that a general user runs should ever have that level of access.

 

It only seems like yesterday when people were up in arms about Sony music CD's installing a rootkit as a form of DRM and Gator spyware packaged with just about any shareware package...now everyone wilfully uses an OS and installs games that do the exact same thing.

[UltraMega]

I think the real issue is that lower level security is increasingly important. As unfortunate as that may be I don't think there is any getting around that. This trend will continue for as long as computer security is an issue. 

 

Is these any downside to using TMP other than older hardware not having it? 

Edited August 1, 2021 by UltraMega

[ENTERPRISE]

2 hours ago, UltraMega said:

I think the real issue is that lower level security is increasingly important. As unfortunate as that may be I don't think there is any getting around that. This trend will continue for as long as computer security is an issue. 

 

Is these any downside to using TMP other than older hardware not having it? 

So far as I know, TPM is simply a security handshake upon boot. There is nothing to inherently run or be processed. So there will not be a performance hit. So realistically, no downside other than if you have no TPM lol.

[schuck6566]

Shortly after October 14, 2025 this meme will start hitting the internet again. When it does multitudes will be saying "I have to get 1 of those for MY computer" their friends will ask if they mean the penguin and the guys will respond "There was a penguin in that meme?"