If you want to see if your specific computer can run Windows 11, download Microsoft’s PC health check app. It’s perhaps more difficult than it should be, because Microsoft published a minimum spec, then tweaked it, then waived certain parts of it for the testing period, leaving us all thoroughly confused about which computers would be able to run the new operating system and which wouldn’t.īroadly speaking, if your computer was purchased within the last five years or so, or was assembled by parts released in the last five years or so, then it’s a fairly safe bet that it’s Windows 11 compatible (unless, obviously, it’s a Mac). Windows 11 has steeper, more demanding system requirements than any other Windows OS. If you want to jump straight to the install part of this guide, click here. Note that your experience may be different depending on your device. So, how might one upgrade to Windows 11? Here’s our handy guide on how to do it. Unlike Windows 10, when upgrading from Windows 7, 8 or 8.1, it’s not as simple as clicking the notification in the taskbar and downloading the upgrade.Īdditionally, some computers may not be compatible with Windows 11, while they were previously compatible with Windows 10 and earlier operating systems (and Microsoft has unfortunately been sending out upgrade notices to incompatible devices). However, for many PC users, and especially some custom PC users (like myself), upgrading isn’t as simple as it might seem.

One year on, Windows 11 has received a bunch of performance and feature upgrades, and it’s definitely worth upgrading to the operating system now.

Upgrade to windows 11 free