Microsoft is testing a Windows 11 desktop watermark for unsupported {hardware}

Microsoft is at the moment experimenting with two new strategies to warn Windows 11 customers that they’ve put in the working system on unsupported {hardware}. In the newest check builds of Windows 11, a brand new watermark has appeared on the desktop wallpaper, alongside an identical warning within the touchdown web page of the settings app.

If the check construct is working on unsupported {hardware}, the desktop watermark merely states “system requirements not met,” and seems alongside the construct quantity that’s solely proven on analysis or pre-release variations of Windows. It’s comparable, however much less outstanding, to the semi-transparent watermark that seems in Windows should you haven’t activated the OS. Twitter consumer Albacore first spotted the settings warning earlier this month.

It’s not clear if Microsoft intends to allow this desktop wallpaper warning extensively, although. The software program maker revealed not too long ago that it might check new additions to Windows 11 which may not make the ultimate minimize. Still, these new warnings are an indication that Microsoft needs to switch how Windows 11 seems on unsupported {hardware}.

Microsoft’s minimal {hardware} necessities for Windows 11 have been controversial, notably because the OS solely formally helps Intel eighth Gen Coffee Lake or Zen 2 CPUs and up. This transfer left hundreds of thousands of PCs behind, however there’s a simple technique to bypass that restriction and set up Windows 11. Now anybody who has used that workaround might begin to see these warnings in future updates to Windows 11.

Microsoft has used comparable warnings for unactivated variations of Windows up to now, and restricts options like darkish mode, personalization settings, and themes from being modified till a system is activated. Microsoft doesn’t seem like experimenting with any function restrictions, and the warnings are thus far solely refined ones as a substitute of pop-ups or notifications.