Microsoft elaborates: “Windows 11 is the most current version of Windows. If you have an older PC, we recommend you move to Windows 11 by buying a new PC. Hardware and software have improved a lot, and today’s computers are faster, more powerful, and more secure.”

Microsoft has given itself a seemingly impossible race against time. With almost exactly a year to run before Windows 10’s unpopular end-of-life hits users in October 2025, Windows 11 is still failing to hook the hundreds of millions more users it needs to prevent a generational support nightmare coming true.

The endless cat-and-mouse game between Microsoft and the community of devoted Windows hackers just took another turn.

If you're currently using any version of Windows other than Windows 11, then your system is either already unsupported (Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8.1), or soon to become unsupported (Windows 10). And Microsoft's best advice for anyone in that situation is "move to Windows 11 by buying a new PC".

When Windows 11 was released, it set an ultimatum for people wanting to upgrade; have a CPU that supports TPM 2.0, or don't upgrade at all. Since then, the company has seen Window