Windows 11 Requirements: 7th Gen Intel Core X and Zion W are allowed, but not Zen 1

Microsoft has adjusted the minimum system requirements for Windows 11 and faces early criticism as to why Intel did not accept the 7th Gen Core and AMD Gen1. The 7th Core Generation now has some exceptions, so Surface Studio 2 is there too, but the first-gen generation is left out.

At the end of June, Microsoft already announced that it would like to test the compatibility of the 7th generation Intel Core and AMD Gen1. This is because Insider Preview is currently being offered to architecturally incompatible systems after the installation of Windows 11. This selection phase is now complete, as is a new post Windows Insider Blog Can be found.

Intel Core X and Intel Zion W are allowed

Microsoft today makes some minor changes to the Windows 11 system requirements, but keeps most of the original requirements pervasive. This includes the selected ones 64-bit processors, At least 4GB RAM, at least 64GB memory, UEFI Secure boot and DPM 2.0. However, Microsoft has identified a choice of PC systems that can cope with the new operating system, even with older processors. In detail, these are the following 7th generation Intel Core CPUs:

• Generally Intel Core X and Intel Xeon W.
• Apparently the Intel Core i7-7820HQ

Surface Studio 2 gets Windows 11

Core i7-7820HQ only supports devices with modern drivers based on the “Declared, Bundled, Hardware Supported Applications (DCH)” policies. It includes the company’s own Surface Studio 2, which was delivered in October 2018 and has not been updated since.

AMD Gen1 has been released

Microsoft has clearly rejected the 1st generation AMD gen. This decision was made after careful analysis of the processors in conjunction with AMD. It was decided together that there would be no more additions to the list of Windows 11 compatible processors. One reason for this is that only supported processors provide DCH driver support from OEM and IHV (independent hardware vendor).

Manual installation should be more feasible

In the case of hardware that is not officially compatible with the update to Windows 11, an installation should still be possible by keeping the Insider preview or manually creating a new installation media and installing the operating system using it. Sites that have a good relationship with Microsoft usually report something like this today On the edge, ZDNet And Durod. However, this option is not yet official.

The new PC health test application is scheduled

Microsoft plans to release a new version of the PC Health Check app in the coming weeks that will recognize the newly added Intel CPUs and make them compatible. A new preview version is already available today, showing more details about system compatibility and is intended to provide assistance through links to Microsoft’s help pages. The new application is compatible with 64- and 32-bit versions of Windows, PCs with Windows 10 in ARM and Windows 10 in S mode.

Windows 10 will be supported until October 14, 2025

Microsoft confirms that support for Windows 10 Home and Pro is scheduled for October 14, 2025. The next feature update for the operating system will appear later in the year, following the Windows 11 holiday season.

Windows 11 Insider Preview Built 22000.168

If you want to test Windows 11 now, you can install Windows 11 Insider Preview Built 22000.168, released today, on the dev and new beta channel. The new build for Microsoft Teams chat and the new Microsoft 365 widget brings significantly more support languages. Microsoft now recommends switching to the beta channel for users who are on the Dev channel, but will try the more stable version.