With respect to Windows 11, CPUs older than Intel's 8th generation chips and AMD's Ryzen 2000 series chips will be locked out of the new OS forever. But thankfully, that may not actually be the case: with the release of the first Windows 11 Insider build, Microsoft confirmed that it is considering support for AMD Ryzen 1000 series and Intel 7th generation CPUs.

"As we release to Windows Insiders and partner with OEMs, we will test devices running on Intel 7th generation and AMD Zen 1 to identify those that might fit our principles," the company said in a blog post.

"We promise to share updates on our testing results over time and share additional technical blogs."

Microsoft's CPU requirements for Windows 11 may change, which will be music to some PC owners' ears. Microsoft currently states that anything below Intel's 8th generation or AMD's Ryzen 2000 series will not be compatible with Windows 11, but the exact reason why older CPUs (some of which are still relatively new) will prevent the new OS from working as intended is still It is not yet clear exactly why. [For example, Microsoft claims that Ryzen 2000 CPUs will work with Windows 11, but Ryzen 1000 series chips will not.

Intel's chip generation is even more repetitive at points perhaps not returning for Windows 11. Intel's 7th generation Kaby Lake and 8th generation Coffee Lake are built on nearly identical architectures, but only the later chips work.

Most modern chips will outperform Windows 11's actual minimum specs of a 1 GHz+ processor with two or more cores.

Microsoft says there is more to it than that and calls the three guiding principles of Windows 11 the fourth: security, reliability, and compatibility.The actual basic requirements for Windows 11 remain vague.

Microsoft also removed a line from its latest blog post specifying that Intel 6th generation and pre-Zen AMD chips will definitely not work with Windows 11, reports Tom Warren of The Verge. We don't know what this means for support for older CPUs.

There will be more to report on Windows 11 compatibility before the OS launches later this year. For now, Microsoft has stopped the Health Check PC App, so you will need to check your PC specs to see if your PC is compatible with the OS upgrade.