Consumer testers on the Inside will have to wait a little longer as Windows 11 is still getting Dev and Beta channel releases. Still, with an October 4 launch now confirmed, we expect a Release Preview build to arrive soon. In the meantime, it is Business Insiders who are getting a release-ready look at both Windows 11 and the not-to-be-forgotten Window 10 version 21H2. At the moment, Windows 11 22000.176 is an optional update so admins can still choose not to install. As we have reported through the week, Microsoft is clamping down on users with unsupported hardware accessing Windows 11. Insiders with incompatible PCs are now unable to install new preview builds. This is true for Insider Program for Business users who cannot install build 22000.176 if they do not have the necessary hardware. Microsoft says Windows 10 users can upgrade for free, but some are not able to because of hardware requirements. Most importantly, a 4GB of RAM and TPM 2.0 requirement.
Requirements
Microsoft has said the platform will only be available for laptops with Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 or higher chips. Admittedly, that is most modern-era laptops, but hundreds of millions use Windows 10. That means there will be millions on hardware that cannot upgrade to Windows 11. Users not invited to the Windows 11 party will get Windows 10 version 21H2 instead. Microsoft will continue to support Windows 10 until 2025. Microsoft is also warning users who install Windows 11 on incompatible hardware using an ISO file. The company says doing so will mean no feature updates or security patches. Tip of the day: Do you get flooded by notifications in Windows 10 from apps and want to disable them completely or just the notification sound? Our tutorial shows you how to do this. As an alternative you can also configure Windows 10 Focus Assist (Do Not Disturb Mode) and set quiet hours.
