If your PC doesn’t meet the benchmarks, it’ll have to live out the rest of its life with Windows 10. It’ll run a quick scan and tell you if your hardware’s compatible with Windows 11, including checking for a TPM (which is fiddly to do manually). You can install a tool from the Microsoft website called PC Health Check. In addition to a compatible CPU, there are a few other requirements. Here are the full lists of supported models for Intel and AMD. Only processors manufactured since late 2017 are officially supported, which includes Intel Core processors from 8th generation onward, and AMD Ryzen processors from 2nd gen. If you bought your computer more than four years ago, you’re out of luck. And, for the first 10 days, you’re free to revert if it isn’t for you. Going forward, the new operating system will be faster and more secure.

Wait for a week or two after you get the offer, to give Microsoft time to kill any bugs that appear on machines like yours. Offers will be sent in waves to computers with similar hardware. It is worth taking the free upgrade, if and when you can.

October 2025: Windows 10 will cease to be supported, and running it becomes a security risk.

January 2023: Windows 8.1 will cease to be supported, and running it becomes a security risk.

If you run an earlier version, you have to

First half of 2022: Eligible Windows 10 PCs begin to receive offers for a free upgrade.

New PCs can be sold with Windows 11 installed. 5 October 2021: The launch date for Windows 11.It’s the least consequential new Windows there’s ever been, feeling more like a Windows 10 update than a brand new product.

Windows 11 release date upgrade