Last month, Microsoft officially announced the Windows 11 operating system, which will be available for free to all users of the Windows 10 operating system, if the computer meets the system requirements of the platform. It turned out that owners of Windows 7, as well as other older versions of the OS, will be able to get the update.
Windows 7 and 8.1 users will be able to upgrade to Windows 11 but with a condition
The company itself did not say whether they intend to provide a free update for Windows 7 and 8.1 users. However, some manufacturers have addressed this issue by publishing hardware compatibility lists and ways to activate or emulate the TPM.
Lenovo has published an FAQ page that explicitly states that you can upgrade your computer from Windows 7 to Windows 11; but only using a “clean install”, which actually requires a complete formatting of the system drive. In other words, there is no direct way to upgrade to Windows 11 using a downloadable Windows Update update.
Although Microsoft provides a free upgrade for Windows 10 users, according to Neowin, license keys from Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 will also be supported; so if you have a computer with powerful hardware and an old OS, the upgrade is quite possible.
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It is worth recalling that Microsoft still has not closed the loophole for updating Windows 7 to Windows 10. In theory, this allows you to upgrade the OS to the tenth version and then to Windows 11 without having to delete all information from the system disk.
The first major update for Windows 11 will launch in the second half of 2022
Windows 11 has yet to make its final consumer version; but Microsoft has already revealed how it will update the OS. It has already been said that major updates for Windows 11 will be released once a year; but this time it is reported that the first such update for the new operating system will be released in the second half of 2022.
But that doesn’t mean that Windows 11 will only be updated once a year. The company promises to continue its Patch Tuesday practice for Windows 10. These are cumulative updates that are released once a month. And for some OS versions, additional cumulative updates will be available.
Microsoft also said that it will update each version of Windows 11 for two years; if we are talking about the custom option. Or within three years – options for enterprises and educational institutions.
