Microsoft Moved The Goalposts Once. Will Windows 12 Bring Another Shift?

Comment Retired Microsoft engineer Dave Plummer has weighed in on the increasingly heated discussion regarding the impending end of Windows 10. Are Windows 11's hardware requirements all about security or just a sales ploy in disguise?

Plummer comes from the days of MS-DOS and Windows NT 4 and had a hand in Windows Activation. He also recently mused on Microsoft's move to a subscription model, regarding the latest iterations of Microsoft's operating system as more of an "adversary" than an assistant.

The controversy over Windows 11's hardware requirements is more nuanced. On one side, there is the laudable goal of securing Windows by requiring the presence of a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 and a relatively modern CPU. On the other hand, there are many devices capable of running Windows 10 that fail Microsoft's hardware compatibility requirements, usually through a lack of TPM 2.0 and/or an older CPU.

"Microsoft," said Plummer, "has previously ended support for older operating systems. The discontinuation of support for Windows XP and later Windows 7 are prime examples. In those cases, the primary rationale was usually the increasing difficulty and cost of maintaining security and ensuring compatibility with modern software and hardware on aging platforms.

"However, the Windows 11 situation feels somewhat different. Many of the PCs excluded by the TPM and CPU requirements are not necessarily old or underpowered; they simply lack a specific relatively recent security chip or a sufficiently new processor architecture.

"This feels less like a natural progression of technology leaving older systems behind due to performance limitations, and more like a specific hardware gate being erected."

The question must also be asked – what does this mean for Windows 12? Microsoft is relentlessly promoting its Copilot+ PCs, and it's not hard to envisage a world where hardware acceleration for the company's AI becomes a prerequisite. Accessing a preview of the company's flagship Recall feature currently requires a Copilot+ PC, for example.

"If this trend continues," Plummer continued, "it's quite conceivable that future versions of Windows could impose even stricter hardware demands, potentially leaving an even larger number of currently functional PCs unable to upgrade," and so the cycle goes on.

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While Plummer was at pains to emphasize the TPM as a boon for security, along with other enhancements, it remains unclear why Microsoft does not allow users to opt out of the enhancements if they lack the hardware. Organizations such as the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) previously pointed out that the e-waste fallout from following Microsoft's advice and ditching incompatible devices could be epic.

It is also worth noting that many users do not want to move to Windows 11. While significant, hardware compatibility is only one factor in the decision-making process and there are always options for users who can't kick the Windows 10 habit.

However, considering Microsoft's continued shift to a subscription model for its services and its determination to introduce hardware barriers unrelated to device performance, could further obstacles be raised with the next major upgrade?

Windows 11 was not an immediate shot in the arm for the company's legion of PC making chums. With AI-infused silicon being touted as the latest savior of the PC industry, adding new requirements for hardware to power features that few users have asked for suggests an air of inevitability. ®