February 26, 2024 – Microsoft has reportedly increased the hardware requirements for Windows 11, effectively rendering a significant number of older CPUs obsolete.
Previously, Microsoft had set the minimum system requirements for Windows 11 as the 8th generation or newer Intel processors, or the 2nd generation or newer AMD Ryzen processors, along with some additional conditions.
However, recent reports suggest that the latest Windows 11 24H2 update now mandates processors to support the POPCNT instruction set for booting up. As if that wasn’t enough, Microsoft has added another wrinkle to the compatibility checks.
In the latest Canary Build 26063, a new registry entry named “BlockedBYSSE4.2” checks whether the processor supports the SSE4.2 instruction set. This move is expected to further eliminate a large chunk of older processors from being able to run Windows 11.
While the SSE4.2 instruction set has been around for over 16 years, Microsoft justifies this decision by arguing that these older processors were not originally designed to run Windows 11.
As the bar for running Windows 11 continues to rise, the question remains: Will you upgrade to the latest version of the operating system?
