Microsoft removes its PC Health Check tool because it didn't say why you couldn’t have Windows 11
Microsoft announced Windows 11 last week, and introduced a new set of hardware requirements for the updated operating system.
If you wanted to find out if your Windows PC was compatible, then you could use the official PC Health Check app for the task. Unfortunately, lots of Windows 10 users found their systems weren't suitable for an upgrade, but weren't given a reason why.
SEE ALSO: First Windows 11 preview available to download now -- this is what's new, and what's missing
In most cases, the incompatibility is down to the new TPM requirement, and in a new blog post the Windows Team goes into some detail regarding the updated minimum system requirements:
Windows 11 is designed and built as a complete set of experiences, unlocking the full power of the PC our customers have come to rely on, including in areas like security, reliability, compatibility, video conferencing, multitasking, playing, creating, building, learning and more. We need a minimum system requirement that enables us to adapt software and hardware to keep pace with people’s expectations, needs and harness the true value and power of the PC to deliver the best experiences, now and in the future. To do that, we were guided by the following principles:
- Windows 11 raises the bar for security by requiring hardware that can enable protections like Windows Hello, Device Encryption, virtualization-based security (VBS), hypervisor-protected code integrity (HVCI) and Secure Boot. The combination of these features has been shown to reduce malware by 60 percent on tested devices. To meet the principle, all Windows 11 supported CPUs have an embedded TPM, support secure boot, and support VBS and specific VBS capabilities.
- Devices upgraded to Windows 11 will be in a supported and reliable state. By choosing CPUs that have adopted the new Windows Driver model and are supported by our OEM and silicon partners who are achieving a 99.8 percent crash free experience.
- Compatibility. Windows 11 is designed to be compatible with the apps you use. It has the fundamentals of >1GHz, 2-core processors, 4GB memory, and 64GB of storage, aligning with our minimum system requirements for Office and Microsoft Teams.
SEE ALSO: Upgrade to Windows 10 Pro at a big discount now... and get Windows 11 free later
Microsoft also acknowledges that the PC Health Check tool simply wasn’t up to the job it was created for.
Based on the feedback so far, we acknowledge that it [the PC Health Check tool] was not fully prepared to share the level of detail or accuracy you expected from us on why a Windows 10 PC doesn’t meet upgrade requirements. We are temporarily removing the app so that our teams can address the feedback. We will get it back online in preparation for general availability this fall.
If you haven’t already checked your system’s compatibility, and don’t want to wait until later in the year, there are other tools available that will do a better job and which you can use now.
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