Microsoft warns users against installing this Windows 11 update

Date:
Fri, 10 Jun 2022 13:36:25 +0000

Description:
If you missed the recent controversy, its still ongoing, with some folks
still getting upgrade offers on unsupported PCs.

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We saw yesterday that Microsoft accidentally piped Windows 11 to some PCs which do not meet the system requirements, and the software giant has now clarified that this was a mistake, and that any testers errantly offered an upgrade shouldnt install the new OS on unsupported hardware.

We say testers (known as Windows Insiders), because this pertained to the preview version of Windows 11 for this years big update, and occurred when Windows 11 22H2 was pushed to the Release Preview Channel.

As spotted by Windows Latest , a Microsoft representative acknowledged the mistake on Twitter, and advised that Windows Insiders on ineligible older PCs whove mistakenly been presented with the option for a Windows 11 upgrade shouldnt take it, lest they encounter an installation error. We are investigating an issue for Insiders where the banner for Windows 11, version 22H2 is showing for PCs not eligible and working to fix. Choosing to install will result in an error. June 8, 2022 See more

However, the actual reports from folks whove gone ahead and installed Windows 11 vary, with some running into trouble as Microsoft predicts, but others
have said the OS works just fine on their unsupported machine.

When the bug was discovered yesterday, Microsoft was quick to pull the
update, and pour cold water on the inevitable chatter about whether the software giant was thinking about relaxing the Windows 11 hardware requirements in some manner.

However, Windows Latest reports that some ineligible PCs are still seeing the upgrade banner. If thats the case, Microsoft is urging users not to perform the upgrade, of course. Analysis: Another fine mess

This has been a bit of a mess, really. Offering an upgrade in error is bad enough in the first place, but the fact that theres still confusion around testers receiving the ability to grab Windows 11 when their PC doesnt meet
the minimum requirements is a pretty poor show.

It doesnt reflect well on Microsofts quality assurance checks within the testing process, with Windows bugs long having been a tiresome subject in terms of their prevalence (and severity in some cases ) since Windows 10
first kicked off.

The fact that upgrading seems to work fine for some users doesnt help,
either, despite what Microsoft says about show-stopping errors. One denizen
of Twitter wrote : I was surprised last night when my surface book offered to download win 11 since it was ineligible before. Installation completed and it seems happy. Is there anything I should check that might not work?

And therein lies the danger: while such an update to Windows 11 might appear to work okay, the user wont know if there is something wonky lurking in the background. Just because things seem fine initially, doesnt mean that some kind of ticking time bomb wont eventually go off, or that some gaping
security hole could be left open for exploit, and havoc might be visited on the host system in one way or another. Its not hard to imagine performance issues could crop up, either, even if there isnt a crashing explosion of some variety.

Broadly, then, wed suggest the risk isnt worth it for those who might still get this upgrade offer, which apparently remains floating around for some users, and as Microsoft advises, the best course of action is doubtless to steer clear.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/microsoft-warns-users-against-installing-this-w indows-11-update/


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