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Microsoft launched Windows 11 on October 5th of 2021 and enforced critical criteria eligible for degradation (2). The company enforced high CPU requirements and stated PCs manufactured before 2017 are ineligible for upgrade.
Even though the PC holds Windows 10 it won't be able to upgrade to its newly available higher variant and the same was applicable to all models older than AMD Ryzen 2000 series and Intel 8th-Gen (3).
However, Microsoft has yet again raised its standard requirements as the company de-listed 44 8th-Gen processors from the Intel Xeon Line of chips. The fact is, all these devices were officially supported by Windows 11, in the previous enforcement.
Understanding enforcement
Microsoft has been frequently upgrading Windows 11 with several features and updates advancing its OS ever since the release. But now, it is updating the requirements for accessing the software.
Since CPUs get old and so does their processor and compatibility with new features, there come several problems in the functionality of the software and operation of the OS, and ensuring a smooth run becomes complicated.
To ensure a smooth run every system requires a "change" which also means several older Intel CPU's to now become non-compatible with the new version. We have mentioned the listed Intel Xeon Processors below.
But before gathering the list of un-supported devices, let's have a look at those who are safe from the recent enforcement:
- i7-8700K
- i5-8400
- Several Laptop CPUs
List of un-supported CPUs for Windows 11
- Intel Xeon E-2104G
- Intel Xeon E-2124
- Intel Xeon E-2124G
- Intel Xeon E-2126G
- Intel Xeon E-2134
- Intel Xeon E-2136
- Intel Xeon E-2144G
- Intel Xeon E-2146G
- Intel Xeon E-2174G
- Intel Xeon E-2176G
- Intel Xeon E-2176M
- Intel Xeon E-2186G
- Intel Xeon E-2186M
- Intel Xeon E-2224
- Intel Xeon E-2224G
- Intel Xeon E-2226G
- Intel Xeon E-2226GE
- Intel Xeon E-2234
- Intel Xeon E-2236
- Intel Xeon E-2244G
- Intel Xeon E-2246G
- Intel Xeon E-2254ME
- Intel Xeon E-2254ML
- Intel Xeon E-2274G
- Intel Xeon E-2276G
- Intel Xeon E-2276M
- Intel Xeon E-2276ME
- Intel Xeon E-2276ML
- Intel Xeon E-2278G
- Intel Xeon E-2278GE
- Intel Xeon E-2278GEL
- Intel Xeon E-2286G
- Intel Xeon E-2286M
- Intel Xeon E-2288G
- Intel Xeon E-2314
- Intel Xeon E-2324G
- Intel Xeon E-2334
- Intel Xeon E-2336
- Intel Xeon E-2356G
- Intel Xeon E-2374G
- Intel Xeon E-2378
- Intel Xeon E-2378G
- Intel Xeon E-2386G
- Intel Xeon E-2388G
As you can see, the list of officially unsupported Windows 11 by Microsoft includes processors such as Xeon from Intel's server processor lineup. Listed CPUs are workstations built suitable for business and professional settings.
None of the listed software is part of the CPU lineup Intel designed for average users, so if you have an old processor, there are slight chances of Windows 11 to work on your device pretty much fine.
In the current Windows 11 update, the company has included safeguards against the workarounds for those forcefully installing Windows 11 on older systems by utilizing bypass methods.
There are other speculations that Microsoft in the future may completely block the installation of OS in older CPUs at the time of Windows 12. Moreover, the company also announced another list of supported processors which included new Ryzen models, and even the TBA Ryzen 3 5380 (4).
