Windows 11: Insiders equipped with incompatible PCs sent back to Windows 10

Insider program members who want to install Windows 11 can no longer do so on an incompatible configuration. Microsoft is saying it … in the hard way.

Microsoft is closing the few roundabout solutions that would allow Windows 11 to be installed on an incompatible machine. // Source: Microsoft.

If a few days ago Microsoft slightly changed the minimum requirements to install Windows 11, the firm is nonetheless demanding on machines eligible for the new version of its operating system. We learn this week that it is gradually blocking the backdoor methods that could open the doors of Windows 11 to too old configurations.

It is therefore no longer possible to install Windows 11 on an ineligible configuration through the Insider program. If you try to do so, you will now come across a Windows Update window telling you that your PC is not compatible and that you need to downgrade to Windows 10. Users who would have wanted to use this method to try Windows 11 on their PC of 2017 are therefore too late.

Windows 11: the preserve of recent machines …

“Your PC does not meet the minimum hardware requirements for Windows 11. Your device is not eligible to participate in the Windows Insider Program on Windows 11. Please install Windows 10 to participate in the Windows Insider Program in the Release Preview channelMicrosoft soberly explains in a purple insert.

Microsoft has now dropped ineligible systems from the Insider program and tells them to install Windows 10. pic.twitter.com/zfALanmcuq

– BetaWiki (@BetaWiki) August 31, 2021

It remains to be seen what happens if we choose to ignore this warning? MSPowerUser asked itself the question. Without having a certain answer, it seems that the user who would try the adventure anyway would simply be deprived of future Insider updates. A method Microsoft is already using in a slightly different form to discourage users going through an ISO to install Windows 11 on incompatible hardware.

As a reminder, Microsoft recently announced the official deployment date for Windows 11, which will arrive in final version on supported machines starting October 5. The thing will be done through a free update, as promised, but the deployment will be spread over several months. Microsoft explains in fact having for “target for all eligible PCs to have the free update by mid-2022“.