Today, Microsoft announced Windows 11, its next operating system requirement. It will release this holiday and will be a free upgrade for Windows 10 PC. This is the most significant update to the Windows operating system requirements since Windows 10. It provides a lot of flexibility and fluid innovation that focuses on increasing end-user productivity with a new experience.
Windows 11 is designed to support today’s hybrid work environment and is considered by far the most reliable, secure, integrated, and performing Windows operating system. Windows 11 is a significant improvement over Windows 10, as well as a surplus understanding of all the new tools and features of the system.
This makes it important to verify that your system will be able to run Windows 11. Are you planning to update your PC to Windows 11 soon? Okay but before that, you need to be aware of the requirements of the Windows 11 system so that you can keep your computer ready to upgrade before launch. In this article, we will talk about the realistic Windows 11 minimum requirements for the best performance on your laptop and PC.
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Windows 11 Minimum System Requirements
This is the basic requirement to install Windows 11 on a PC. If your device does not meet these requirements, you may not be able to install Windows 11 on your device and consider buying a new PC. However, this is a test of the minimum requirements, not necessary for the smooth running of the system. Rather Windows 11 has additional feature-specific requirements. Let us discuss these in detail.
If you’re not sure if your PC meets these requirements, you can check with your PC Original Equipment Manufacturer (OM) or whether your device is already running Windows 10. You can use the PC Health Check app to assess compatibility.
- Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with 2 or more cores on a compatible 64-bit processor or System on a Chip (SoC)
- RAM: 4 gigabytes (GB)
- Storage: 64 GB or larger storage device
- Note: See below under “More information on storage space to keep Windows 11 up-to-date” for more details.
- System firmware: UEFI, Secure Boot capable
- TPM: Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0
- Graphics card: Compatible with DirectX 12 or later with WDDM 2.0 driver
- Display: High definition (720p) display that is greater than 9” diagonally, 8 bits per color channel
- Internet connection: Internet connectivity is necessary to perform updates, and to download and use some features.
- Windows 11 Home edition requires an Internet connection and a Microsoft Account to complete device setup on first use.
Windows 11 Feature-specific system requirements
Some features in Windows 11 have requirements beyond those listed above. See the following list of features and associated requirements.
- Client Hyper-V: requires a processor with second-level address translation (SLAT) capabilities. This feature is available in Windows Pro editions and above.
- BitLocker to Go: requires a USB flash drive. This feature is available in Windows Pro and above editions.
- Cortana: requires a microphone and speaker and is currently available on Windows 11 for Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States.
- 5G support: requires 5G capable modem.
- Auto HDR: requires an HDR monitor.
- Presence: requires a sensor that can detect human distance from the device or intent to interact with the device.
- DirectStorage: requires an NVMe SSD to store and run games that use the Standard NVM Express Controller driver and a DirectX12 GPU with Shader Model 6.0 support.
- Mute and unmute: Taskbar requires a video camera, microphone, and speaker (audio output). The app must be compatible with features to enable global mute/unmute.
- Touch: requires a screen or monitor that supports multi-touch.
- DirectX 12 Ultimate: available with supported games and graphics chips.
- Intelligent Video Conferencing: requires a video camera, microphone, and speaker (audio output) Multiple Voice Assistant: requires a microphone and speaker.
- Snap: three-column layouts require a screen that is 1920 effective pixels or greater in width.
- Spatial Sound: requires supporting hardware and software.
- Microsoft Teams: requires a video camera, microphone, and speaker (audio output).
- Voice Typing: requires a PC with a microphone.
- Two-factor authentication: requires the use of a PIN, biometric (fingerprint reader or illuminated infrared camera), or a phone with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth capabilities.
- Windows Hello: requires a camera configured for near-infrared (IR) imaging or fingerprint reader for biometric authentication. Devices without biometric sensors can use Windows Hello with a PIN or a portable Microsoft compatible security key. For more information, see IT tools to support Windows 10, version 21H1.
- Windows Projection: requires a display adapter that supports Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) 2.0 and a Wi-Fi adapter that supports Wi-Fi Direct.
- Wake on Voice: requires a Modern Standby power model and microphone.
- Wi-Fi 6E: requires new WLAN IHV hardware and driver and a Wi-Fi 6E capable AP/router.
- Xbox app: requires an Xbox Live account, which is not available in all regions. Please go to the Xbox Live Countries and Regions page for the most up-to-date information on availability. Some features in the Xbox app will require an active Xbox Game Pass subscription.
System requirements
The main difference between those working with Windows 10 will be with 2 or more cores. Windows 11 requires a 1GHz processor with 2 or more cores and only supports 4-bit systems. Although many users chose to switch to dual-core or better computers in the late 2000s, a significant portion of them relied on low-single-core systems. They will miss the bus with Windows 11 and besides, they will have to stay with Windows 10 with a 32-bit system.
RAM is usually a limiting factor when judging the performance of a system. Now, with Windows 11 pushing the bar to 4GB, you may need to upgrade to 6GB or 8GB of RAM for a clearer experience with the operating system. The hard disk space required for Windows 11 is 64 GB. This is significantly more than the 20 GB required for Windows 10 (64-bit).
Windows 11
Windows 11 handles UEFI, secure boot capability. Probably a factor as to why they’re doing so poorly on Windows 11. The system’s graphics card needs to be compatible with DirectX 12 or later WDDM 2.0 drivers. Windows 11 has a specific requirement with a display that allows the monitor to display a high definition (720p) and should be 9 “inches or more in size. 8 bits per color channel is important. Installing Windows 11 requires the presence of Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 on the system.