Windows 11 has absurdly high hardware requirements: processors younger than 2017, 64-bit, TPM 2.0. Computers that don’t fulfill this simply run Windows 10 today. But on October 14, 2025 Microsoft will stop issuing security updates for Windows 10 and all older computers can no longer be operated with Windows 10 in a meaningful way due to a lack of updates.
The requirements seem completely arbitrary because there is hardly any difference between the older supported processors and the next older generation models that are no longer supported. They will still be fast enough for many tasks in 2025, which is why Microsoft is effectively forcing companies and private individuals to replace computers that will work by this deadline with new ones. This is a catastrophe for the environment and also an avoidable burden on the wallet.
The c’t processor specialist Christof Windeck explains in c’t uplink in an interview with Pina Merkert what hardware future Windows 11 computers will need and where an upgrade can make sense. He also uncovers why Microsoft is declaring so many computers unsuitable and whether the security of PCs has improved with the changeover.
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Also present: Christof Windeck and Pina Merkert
c’t 10/2023 is available at the kiosk, in the browser and in the c’t app for iOS and Android.
(pmk)