Microsoft has started booting incompatible devices from the Windows 11 Insider Preview Programme
Microsoft has now announced when Windows 11 will reach machines outside of the Insider Preview Programme, where it has been deploying its new OS for a while now. As it stood, 'incompatible' machines could run Windows 11 through the Insider Preview Programme, such as the Surface Studio 2 until Microsoft relaxed some hardware requirements last week.
Unfortunately, time has now run out for incompatible machines running Windows 11 through the Insider Preview Programme. According to @BetaWiki, Microsoft has kicked ineligible machines from the programme, as the screenshot below shows. Strangely, our ONEXPLAYER has not received such a message, despite being incompatible with Windows 11 on account of its 8.4-inch display. Hence, it is unclear triggers the ineligibility flag; Microsoft has not confirmed, either.
A workaround exists for installing Windows 11 on an ineligible machine, but there are drawbacks. As Microsoft announced last week, it is now possible to install Windows 11 using an ISO. This will be true for affected machines come Windows 11's release on October 5, too. However, Microsoft stresses that unsupported devices will not receive Windows Updates, just to twist the knife.
Ultimately, Microsoft will continue supporting Windows 10 until 2025, so all is not lost. Nonetheless, allowing unsupported devices to run Windows 11 but refusing any updates feels wholly unnecessary, in our opinion.
