Microsoft Is Threatening To Withhold Windows 11 Updates

American tech giant Microsoft has threatened to withhold Windows 11 updates and potentially even the security updates for users who have an old CPU. According to reports, Microsoft had earlier said that it won’t actually block users from installing Windows 11 on a PC with an old CPU, but now the company has again said that unsupported PCs won’t be entitled to receive Windows Updates and driver updates.

It’s quite possible this might just be a cover-up measure on Microsoft’s part. It’s a bit hard to imagine that Microsoft wouldn’t issue critical security patches this time when we’ve often seen it extend support and offer the occasional free patch even after it’s shelved an operating system for good. In other to discourage people from been expectant, it might have just been better for Microsoft to let users know it wouldn’t be offering a warranty and technical support for every possible PC configuration under the sun to avoid potential legal headaches down the road. Better to under-promise and over-deliver.

But it’s also possible Microsoft genuinely does mean to withhold patches at some point in the future — potentially even at launch. Microsoft declined to clarify things further at this time, which suggests the company’s quite happy about users assuming this as a genuine threat. It’s not just security updates at stake here, by the way: If you’re unwilling or unable to replace your older-than-Intel 8th-Gen-CPU, Windows 11 could theoretically be an operating system where you go back to the days of manually downloading driver updates for all your hardware, something you have no need thinking about for years. Windows 10 wowed us from day one by seamlessly working with my aging laptop. It would be quite unfortunate if that’s not the case anymore. (Admittedly, the generic drivers that ship with Windows are often good enough.)

Feature updates are probably less of a big deal: if you’re the kind of person who would install a Windows 11 ISO on your computer, to begin with, you can probably download a newer ISO the next time there’s a major Windows update that you want, and do an in-place-install. We suppose Microsoft could change its mind about system requirements for future ISOs, too.

Although the Windows 11 upgrade situation just got less and more confusing, it’s looking like the company seemingly wants to push Windows users to buy a brand new PC, whether they need one or not. The company recently mentioned a loophole that could placate some of the company’s vocal power users who don’t want to give up their old hardware. But if that loophole gets in the way of Microsoft’s plans, the company is reserving the right to make it far less attractive.