Microsoft Warns 400 Million Users—Do Not Update Windows – Forbes
A new warning for Windows usersMore than 800 million Microsoft users are buckling up for a rollercoaster ride, as they get ever nearer the Windows-maker ending their critical security updates in October. We’re talking Windows 11 and the painful process of pushing Windows 10 users to switch. Despite years of trying, Microsoft has yet to convince most of them to move.What’s now clear is that this huge group splits broadly in half — those that won’t update and those that can’t. For the first half, the enticement is a free upgrade to a more secure and feature-rich OS. Albeit that has not yet done the trick. For the other half, those without PCs recent enough to meet the Windows 11 security hurdle, Microsoft’s recommendation is to buy a new PC. Ideally a Copilot PC with all the AI trimmings.All 800 million can kick the can down the road another year with extended support — longer if they’re doing so as part of an enterprise or school account. And on this, the company has started to publish more formal pricing and buying guidance. And while we can assume most users with PCs capable of a jump to Windows 11 will do so rather than pay a fee, the other 400 million users have a harder choice. And chances are this is the group least likely to pay extra and therefore most likely to fall off support.The bad news for that group, as spotted by Neowin, is that “Microsoft [has]Not any more. The support document “which hosted this information has been edited since and the above workaround has been deleted. The change was made sometime recently after the release of Windows 11 24H2.” As Neowin points out, “the company is not a fan of those updating to 11 on unsupported devices, which is likely why it no longer wants to inform users about the Registry workaround.”For the record, this is the advice that was:The workaround in question did need some tech savvy, albeit those easy-fo-follow instructions. That said, not all users would be comfortable tweaking Registry keys even if doing so has a seal of approval from Microsoft. The tweak bypassed the TPM hardware check, and let the upgrade fly. Even so, it would likely be a patchy experience running Windows 11 in those circumstances.Now instead users are simply warned “before you begin installing Windows 11, make sure the device you want to install Windows 11 on meets the minimum system requirements. If your device is currently running Windows 10, we recommend you verify the minimum system requirements using the PC Health Check app. We do not recommend installing Windows 11 on a device that doesn’t meet requirements.”So take this as a further warning not to upgrade to Windows 11 on the wrong hardware, at least as far as Microsoft is concerned. Prior warnings have included loss of hardware and software support, as well as a loss of support for office apps. And now this.The good news is that we saw an uptick in Windows 11 upgrades in January. But there’s a long way yet to go. I have asked Microsoft for any comments on the change.One Community. Many Voices. Create a free account to share your thoughts. Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas and facts in a safe space.In order to do so, please follow the posting rules in our site’s Terms of Service. We’ve summarized some of those key rules below. Simply put, keep it civil.Your post will be rejected if we notice that it seems to contain:User accounts will be blocked if we notice or believe that users are engaged in:So, how can you be a power user?Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Please read the full list of posting rules found in our site’s Terms of Service.
