Windows 11: Microsoft names supported processors

So far, Microsoft hasn’t released detailed information regarding the minimum requirements to processors. All that we knew is the rquirements are 64 bits, at least 1 gigahertz and 2 processing cores. In a blog post, the Windows manufacturer has now given us more details – but no clarity yet for all chipsets.

How minimum requirements come about

In the above-mentioned blog post, Microsoft goes into how Windows 11's processor requirements came about. Three keywords play an important role: security, reliability and compatibility.

In terms of security, the processors must support current security standards such as «embedded TPM», secure booting and Virtualization-Based Security (VBS). For the reliability of Windows 11, using the new Windows Driver Model is important to Microsoft. To offer improved compatibility, the 1 gigahertz, 2 processing cores, and 4 gigabytes of RAM and 64 gigabytes of storage are the same minimum requirements as for Office or Microsoft Teams.

What Windows 11 needs

Microsoft applies the mentioned minimum requirements to various processor generations and concludes that the following can cope with Windows 11.

• Intel 8th generation – on the market since October 2017 and newer
• AMD Zen 2 – on the market since July 2019 and newer
• Snapdragon 7 and 8 Series – on the market since Q2 2018 and not to be confused with the smartphone chipsets

What about the 7th Intel generation, released between 2017 and 2019, as well as AMD's Zen 1? Microsoft and its partners will test which models are suitable for Windows 11. This will take a few months.

However, this also means that all Intel chipsets of the 6th generation and older as well as all AMD chipsets from the pre-Zen era from before 2017 aren’t officially supported.