Windows 11 is Microsoft’s latest version of the Windows OS which debuted October 2021. Windows 11 is available as a free upgrade if your PC currently has Windows 10, however there are some requirements that your PC must meet to run Windows 11, which are stated next.
Windows 11 Minimum Requirements
| Resource | Specification |
|---|---|
| Processor | 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with 2 or more cores on a compatible 64-bit processor or System on a Chip (SoC). |
| RAM | 4 gigabytes (GB). |
| Storage | 64 GB or larger storage device. |
| System firmware | UEFI, Secure Boot capable. |
| TPM | Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0. |
| Graphics card | Compatible with DirectX 12 or later with WDDM 2.0 driver. |
| Display | High definition (720p) display that is greater than 9” diagonally, 8 bits per color channel. |
| Internet connection and Microsoft account | Windows 11 Pro for personal use and Windows 11 Home require internet connectivity and a Microsoft account during initial device setup. Switching a device out of Windows 11 Home in S mode also requires internet connectivity. For all Windows 11 editions, internet access is required to perform updates and to download and take advantage of some features. A Microsoft account is required for some features. |
What is the Trusted Platform Module?
Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is basically a chip located on the motherboard of your computer that provides a hardware based form of enhancing your computer’s security and privacy. According to Microsoft the TPM protects data through encryption and decryption, protects authentication credentials, and proves which software is running on a system. These are the basic security functionalities provided by using the TPM.
What is UEFI?
According to Wikipedia, the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) “is a publicly available specification that defines a software interface between an operating system and platform firmware. UEFI replaces the legacy Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) firmware interface originally present in all IBM PC-compatible personal computers”
Basically the UEFI is the middleman between the Operation System (OS) and the motherboard’s firmware. It’s main function is to hand over control of the computer’s hardware to the OS. UEFI supports secure boot, meaning only an authorized operating system can be booted, thus preventing malware to run on your system.
The boot process would go like:
Device Powered On > Firmware Boot Loaders > UEFI Runs > Windows Boot manager loads > Windows OS
How to check if your PC is ready for Windows 11?
To tell if your PC can be upgraded to Windows 11 you can use the PC Health Check app included in Windows 10. To use the app follow these steps:
Step 1
Click the Start icon on the taskbar (or press the Windows key) and type PC Health Check.
Step 2
Click on PC Health Check to open it.
Step 3
Click the Check now button to view the results.
Step 3
If your PC meets all the requirements then you’ll see all green checkmarks, unlike the image shown below. The PC in this image does not have a TPM and the processor is not supported.
Step 4
Click See all results to – you guessed it see all the results.
Conclusion
This article stated the requirements for Windows 11 and explained the security hardware required by Microsoft’s latest OS. With cyber crimes on the rise, these new requirements are a step in the right direction.
With that being said there are means to bypass some of these requirements. Stay tuned as I outline these methods in a future post.
