4 ms·

I upgraded 3 days ago, no regrets. Actually, I did a fresh install, and saved the iso on a bootable USB stick just in case it sucked and I had to downgrade.

ChuckNorris89 5y ago
The cool part, which nobody seem to talk about, is if you do a fresh install off an USB drive burned with the official ISO from Microsoft, rather than an upgrade, then it automatically bypasses any CPU and TPM restrictions that normally pop-up and prevent you from upgrading if you try to upgrade and your system doesn't meet those HW limitations. So I successfully installed Win11 on a system running an ~7 year old intel CPU with no issues, which is officially not supported. So I feel the HW restrictions are just a theater for the users whoa are less tech savvy. I whish this "workaround" would be better known. Another funny thing was, I managed to activate the Professional version successfully with some old, tried and tested, pirate CD-key from the Windows 7 days, originally meant for the MSDNAA program, that's everywhere on the internet if you Google/Bing for it. Makes me think that Microsoft no longer cares if you pirate Windows, and the whole license thing is just a theater, as they probably monetize you either way through telemetry and the ads they show you plus, the more windows users there are, legitimate or not, the stronger their ecosystem lock-in becomes so they win either way. So the way I see it, if you're willing to ignore the legality of breaching the EULA, then Windows 11 is basically "free" for private use, with some huge asterixis. I still wish to switch to Linux in the long run, since I hate the UX of Windows 11 and the privacy implications, but unlike desktops, on the laptop Linux is just not at the same level of polish and feature parity as Windows for me yet, with many things I care about and work out of the box in Windows 11, being a bunch of hack/addons built by the community on Linux, that are still work in progress and and need to apply manually and update yourself. No bueno. I don't have time for this.
- llimos 5y ago
  It's true that they don't care about pirating any more, but I think it's more because the vast majority of Windows revenue comes from OEM's. Certainly getting more users on the latest version is more important to them. Unactivated Windows 10 shows a barely-perceptible 'Activate Windows' overlay in the bottom corner, and doesn't let you change the wallpaper. Big whoop.
- vetinari 5y ago
  > then it automatically bypasses any CPU and TPM restrictions that normally pop-up and prevent you from upgrading if you try to upgrade Are you sure you used the retail iso and not the insider one? I tried it with 1st gen Threadripper and it didn't work, it still complained about non-supported cpu. > with many things I care about being a bunch of hack/addons built by the community, That's what you are used for. I regularly use Windows, Mac and Linux and each of them has this problem, but for different subset of functionality.
  - ChuckNorris89 5y ago
    >Are you sure you used the retail iso and not the insider one? I tried it with 1st gen Threadripper and it didn't work, it still complained about non-supported cpu. Yes, even Microsoft themselves mention that TPM 2.0 and CPU model requirements are not checked with fresh install but then at least TPM 1.2 is still needed [1]. On the Intel 6th series from 2015 I tried it on, installation worked flawlessly. [1] "Important: An image install of Windows 11 will not check for the following requirements: TPM 2.0 (at least TPM 1.2 is required) and CPU family and model." [1] https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ways-to-install-windows-11-e0edbbfb-cfc5-4011-868b-2ce77ac7c70e https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ways-to-install-...
- ThePowerOfFuet 5y ago
  If you used Rufus, that's what removed those restrictions. The official image, unaltered, enforces them.
  - ChuckNorris89 5y ago
    No, I used Balena Etcher and had no restrictions.
    - ThePowerOfFuet 5y ago
      Perhaps it does the same thing; I'm not sure. But on a clean install with unaltered media the limits are enforced.
      - ChuckNorris89 5y ago
        You are probably mistaken. Etcher doesn't do anything like that, it just writes byte-level data from ISO to target media. And even Microsoft themselves mention that HW requirements are not checked with fresh install but then at least TPM 1.2 is still needed [1] so maybe your CPU predates TPM 1.2 but then we're talking about some really old hardware as v1.2 dates back to 2011. On the Intel 6th series I tried it on from 2015, installation worked flawlessly. [1] "Important: An image install of Windows 11 will not check for the following requirements: TPM 2.0 (at least TPM 1.2 is required) and CPU family and model." [1] https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ways-to-install-windows-11-e0edbbfb-cfc5-4011-868b-2ce77ac7c70e https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ways-to-install-...
        ThePowerOfFuet 5y ago
        The documentation you quote directly contradicts my own experience with installing from an untouched ISO, where I had to open Regedit during setup to bypass the TPM check. Maybe they spun new ISOs because of the blowback?
        ChuckNorris89 5y ago

ChuckNorris89 5y ago

The cool part, which nobody seem to talk about, is if you do a fresh install off an USB drive burned with the official ISO from Microsoft, rather than an upgrade, then it automatically bypasses any CPU and TPM restrictions that normally pop-up and prevent you from upgrading if you try to upgrade and your system doesn't meet those HW limitations. So I successfully installed Win11 on a system running an ~7 year old intel CPU with no issues, which is officially not supported. So I feel the HW restrictions are just a theater for the users whoa are less tech savvy. I whish this "workaround" would be better known. Another funny thing was, I managed to activate the Professional version successfully with some old, tried and tested, pirate CD-key from the Windows 7 days, originally meant for the MSDNAA program, that's everywhere on the internet if you Google/Bing for it. Makes me think that Microsoft no longer cares if you pirate Windows, and the whole license thing is just a theater, as they probably monetize you either way through telemetry and the ads they show you plus, the more windows users there are, legitimate or not, the stronger their ecosystem lock-in becomes so they win either way. So the way I see it, if you're willing to ignore the legality of breaching the EULA, then Windows 11 is basically "free" for private use, with some huge asterixis. I still wish to switch to Linux in the long run, since I hate the UX of Windows 11 and the privacy implications, but unlike desktops, on the laptop Linux is just not at the same level of polish and feature parity as Windows for me yet, with many things I care about and work out of the box in Windows 11, being a bunch of hack/addons built by the community on Linux, that are still work in progress and and need to apply manually and update yourself. No bueno. I don't have time for this.

llimos 5y ago
It's true that they don't care about pirating any more, but I think it's more because the vast majority of Windows revenue comes from OEM's. Certainly getting more users on the latest version is more important to them. Unactivated Windows 10 shows a barely-perceptible 'Activate Windows' overlay in the bottom corner, and doesn't let you change the wallpaper. Big whoop.
vetinari 5y ago
> then it automatically bypasses any CPU and TPM restrictions that normally pop-up and prevent you from upgrading if you try to upgrade Are you sure you used the retail iso and not the insider one? I tried it with 1st gen Threadripper and it didn't work, it still complained about non-supported cpu. > with many things I care about being a bunch of hack/addons built by the community, That's what you are used for. I regularly use Windows, Mac and Linux and each of them has this problem, but for different subset of functionality.
- ChuckNorris89 5y ago
  >Are you sure you used the retail iso and not the insider one? I tried it with 1st gen Threadripper and it didn't work, it still complained about non-supported cpu. Yes, even Microsoft themselves mention that TPM 2.0 and CPU model requirements are not checked with fresh install but then at least TPM 1.2 is still needed [1]. On the Intel 6th series from 2015 I tried it on, installation worked flawlessly. [1] "Important: An image install of Windows 11 will not check for the following requirements: TPM 2.0 (at least TPM 1.2 is required) and CPU family and model." [1] https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ways-to-install-windows-11-e0edbbfb-cfc5-4011-868b-2ce77ac7c70e https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ways-to-install-...
ThePowerOfFuet 5y ago
If you used Rufus, that's what removed those restrictions. The official image, unaltered, enforces them.
- ChuckNorris89 5y ago
  No, I used Balena Etcher and had no restrictions.
  - ThePowerOfFuet 5y ago
    Perhaps it does the same thing; I'm not sure. But on a clean install with unaltered media the limits are enforced.
    - ChuckNorris89 5y ago
      You are probably mistaken. Etcher doesn't do anything like that, it just writes byte-level data from ISO to target media. And even Microsoft themselves mention that HW requirements are not checked with fresh install but then at least TPM 1.2 is still needed [1] so maybe your CPU predates TPM 1.2 but then we're talking about some really old hardware as v1.2 dates back to 2011. On the Intel 6th series I tried it on from 2015, installation worked flawlessly. [1] "Important: An image install of Windows 11 will not check for the following requirements: TPM 2.0 (at least TPM 1.2 is required) and CPU family and model." [1] https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ways-to-install-windows-11-e0edbbfb-cfc5-4011-868b-2ce77ac7c70e https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ways-to-install-...
      - ThePowerOfFuet 5y ago
        The documentation you quote directly contradicts my own experience with installing from an untouched ISO, where I had to open Regedit during setup to bypass the TPM check. Maybe they spun new ISOs because of the blowback?
        ChuckNorris89 5y ago