Why is unsupported hardware being offered Windows 11 22H2?

Excited Laptop User

Okay, now this is funny. A little expected, but funny nonetheless! Microsoft released Windows 11 22H2 to Insiders enrolled in the Release Preview channel of its preview program yesterday.

This marked another solid step towards general availability of this version of the operating system. It is, after all, the first major feature update for Windows 11. And though this release is not too high on new features, it is an important milestone for the OS.

But while things are going as planned for Redmond when it comes to development, deployment is another matter entirely.

That’s because, according to reports, users on unsupported hardware are being offered the upgrade as well. This includes people that are rocking older processors to folks that are enjoying life running Windows 10 with nary a worry.

Worth a mention that Windows 10 itself has a Release Preview channel that receives cumulative updates ahead of the launch of major update for that older operating system. But people with supported hardware see the “Windows 11, version 22H2 is ready” offer.

The issue here is that this seems to be offered on unsupported hardware, too.

A glance at the above Reddit thread shows that people running 6th and 7th gen Intel CPUs are being shown that their devices are compatible with the latest version of Windows 11. This is certainly not true when you take a look at the strict hardware requirement Microsoft has in place for its new OS.

To make matters more interesting, the upgrade reportedly completes successfully without any errors!

There is a possibility that some kind soul over at Microsoft forgot to flip a switch that blocked installs of Windows 11 on unsupported hardware through the Windows Insider channel.

Let’s wait and see when — and if — this is reversed.