Microsoft Mistakenly Offers Windows 11 Upgrade to Ineligible Windows 10 Users

The majority of Windows 10 PCs fail to meet Windows 11’s strict hardware requirements. Still, Microsoft is offering the Windows 11 upgrade to ineligible PCs. This appears to be an error, as affected users report that the upgrade fails to install.

This error was first mentioned on the r/Windows11 subreddit. Several users complained that, after attempting to install the Windows 11 upgrade, a pop-up message appeared stating that “this PC doesn’t currently meet Windows 11’s system requirements.” The bug was quickly reproduced by @PhantomOcean3 in a virtual machine, indicating that it may be more widespread than expected.

Windows 11 free upgrade being offered to unsupported Windows 10 devices/VMs?

Screenshots from a Windows 10 22H2 VM that does not meet the Windows 11 system requirements, big ones being TPM (none) and RAM (2 GB) pic.twitter.com/VNNswgMLiC

— PhantomOcean3💙💛 (@PhantomOfEarth) February 23, 2023

Last year, Microsoft accidentally installed Windows 11 on a bunch of unsupported PCs. And while Microsoft hasn’t addressed today’s problem, it’s safe to assume that this is unintentional behavior. The Windows 11 hardware requirements are set in stone, and lowering these requirements nearly two years after the operating system’s release wouldn’t make sense (especially the TPM requirement, which is a security measure).

Not to mention, Microsoft promises to support Windows 10 until 2025. Users have plenty of time to buy a new PC and migrate to Windows 11. And if you’re stuck on Windows 10, you’re really not missing out on much—Windows 11 doesn’t have a ton of exclusive features.

For what it’s worth, you can force Windows 11 to work on unsupported hardware. But Microsoft makes you sign a waiver, shoves a watermark on your desktop, and won’t provide any software updates (aside from the occasional emergency update, which is never guaranteed). So, unless you’re a hardcore nerd, you should probably go down the official route.