With less than a year left until Windows 10's end date, people still using that operating system will need to start preparing to enter the Windows 11 era. And Microsoft is imposing a hardware requirement on the current operating system that could pose a problem for those of us using older machines.
Windows 11 will require computers to have TPM 2.0. Also known as Trusted Platform Module, this is a dedicated chip or firmware used for device security, and version 2.0 offers several useful features to improve cryptography and encryption. TO Microsoft describes all the benefits and why it becomes a critical part of Windows 11 installations. In particular, the latest TPM can help future-proof the three-year-old operating system “by helping to protect information confidential as more ai capabilities come to physical, cloud and server architecture.”
That's all well and good, but many older machines don't have TPM 2.0. That version became the hardware standard for Windows computers. . Experienced users may have been able to use Windows 11 on computers incompatible with workarounds, but Microsoft's language that “TPM 2.0 is not just a recommendation, it's a necessity” indicates that the company will likely become stricter when it comes to to prevent these omissions. You can check the TPM status of your computer with Microsoft's PC Health Check app ahead of the Windows 10 support end date of October 14, 2025.
