What you need to know
- Windows 11 was released on October 5, 2021.
- Its hardware requirements have been controversial due to the high CPU bar and TPM 2.0 mandate.
- It turns out nearly 25% of Windows Central readers will be held back by these requirements.
In honor of the operating system's launch, we asked Windows Central readers whether they'd be upgrading to Windows 11. Almost 36% said they'd already upgraded, with over 15% on top of that saying they plan to do so by the end of launch week. However, nearly one out of every four respondents said they wouldn't be able to upgrade because their PC didn't make the hardware cutoff for the new OS.
It's no secret that the CPU and TPM requirements have been causing headaches for many PC users. The entire country of China is not tolerating the TPM requirement, to give one example. Many average users across the world do not have machines with recent CPUs or a Trusted Platform Module chip that fits Microsoft's guidelines. To hear that nearly a quarter of Windows Central respondents fall into that category is noteworthy, given that many of our readers tend to be more knowledgeable and up-to-date on tech than the average person.
That alarming statistic aside, other poll results include that almost 20% of voters are waiting on upgrading, and over 4.5% claim they're never going to upgrade to Windows 11. While never upgrading to Windows 11 is a bold goal given that it's going to dominate PCs for the next few years, it's not impossible. After all, a lot of Steam users are still opting for Windows 7. And keep in mind how many people never saw Windows 8 for even a single day.
