Windows 11 has not gotten off to a good start, since the lack of transparency on the part of Microsoft has made it still unclear if we will be able to install Windows 11 on computers prior to 2016. The builds that have been released in the Insider program are compatible, but the final version might not be, as the company is still evaluating compatibility . The lack of power is not a problem, and running Windows 11 on a mobile from six years ago is the best example of this.
A YouTube user named Gustave Monce has posted a video on YouTube along with several photos in which he shows how he managed to run Windows 11 on a Lumia 950 XL , launched six years ago and equipped with a Snapdragon 810 . Although the performance is not the best, with some lag when opening windows or the start menu, the system works.
Running this operating system on your mobile can also give Windows Phone mobiles a second life, as Windows 11 will allow you to run Android applications . The performance will leave much to be desired. Microsoft was testing native support for Android apps for Windows Phone with Project Astoria . Some prerelease versions of Windows 10 Mobile included the support, but it was finally removed because many had problems such as crashes, performance problems, or simply could not run due to the absence of Google Play Services .
Thus, it is curious to see how a mobile can run Windows 11, but there are computers that, on paper, will not be able to run Windows 11. It is clear that, knowing the community, there will be many ways to bypass the TPM check, either version 1.2 or 2.0. Currently it is possible to install the system even on unsupported computers by simply changing a file, so there is a lot of hope.
The requirements of Windows 11, very demanding
According to Microsoft, the minimum requirements for Windows 11 will be:
- 1 GHz 64-bit processor with two or more cores
- 4 GB RAM
- 64 GB storage
- Safe Boot compatible UEFI
- TPM 2.0
- DirectX 12 or WDDM 2.0 compatible graphics card
- HD (720p) display of more than 9 inches and 8-bit color
- Internet connection (Windows Home only and in S mode)
There will also be other requirements for OEMs, such as that all laptops released after 2023 will have to have a webcam in order to use Windows Hello.
As we can see, meeting all the requirements is not easy, as there are laptops released in 2015 and 2016 that do not have UEFI. TPM 2.0 is only present on computers after 2016, although only TPM 1.2 may be required, which would extend support to a decade. With DirectX 12, however, there would be more limitations, because the first compatible cards were the GTX 900.
This would not be a problem if Windows 10 were to maintain support in the future, but the system will stop having it in October 2025, which will force the jump to Windows 11. And many computers, unlike what happened with Windows 7, they will not be able to make the leap if these requirements are not relaxed.
