Unsupported Windows 11 PCs receiving updates, despite Microsoft warning

Windows 11 is not officially supported on older PCs and Microsoft had warned these machines would not be eligible to receive updates. However, older PCs are now reportedly receiving the first update after upgrading to Windows 11.

Windows 11 is supported on laptops and desktop PCs that meet Microsoft's strict hardware requirements.  (Amritanshu Mukherjee / HT Tech)

Windows 11 arrived last week, bringing major upgrades to Microsoft's popular desktop operating system. However, the update itself is only compatible with modern hardware, which means that only laptops and desktop computers manufactured within the last four or five years are officially supported by Microsoft. The company had said only officially supported devices would be eligible to receive updates but it appears that these updates are rolling out to users on older hardware as well, according to reports.

According to a report by HTNovo, Windows 11 computers that did not meet Windows 11 minimum requirements were able to receive the first Patch Tuesday updates for Windows 11 that rolled out a couple of days ago. Microsoft still warns users while downloading Windows 11 ISOs that installing the operating system on unsupported machines means these computers might not be eligible to receive updates.

HTNovo spotted their "unsupported" older PC running Windows 11 receive updates after Patch Tuesday.  (via HTNovo)

HTNovo spotted their "unsupported" older PC running Windows 11 receive updates after Patch Tuesday.  (via HTNovo)

Microsoft's list of minimum specifications states that computers running Intel's Core 8th Generation processors, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 850, and AMD's Zen 2 series and newer chipsets should be able to update directly to Windows 11. This is in addition to other requirements including TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot as well as 4GB and 64GB of RAM and disk storage space, respectively.

At the time of publishing this story, it is still possible to install Windows 11 on an unsupported computer, including processors as old as the Intel Core i3-2100. However, Microsoft's website still warns users trying to download Windows 11 that only supported hardware will be eligible to receive updates. As a result, it is hard to tell whether users who have upgraded to Windows 11 will continue to receive updates in the future, or whether they will be able to receive major updates to the operating system like the ones that are released twice a year on Windows 10.