Microsoft announced Windows 11 a few days ago. The operating system was supposed to be compatible with the vast majority of PCs on the market according to a Windows blog post, however, this may not be the case.
Most pc users may be locked out of the new update due to the lack of TPM (Trusted Platform Module) chips which have now been added to the list of requirements to install Windows 11.
To check whether your PC meets the system requirements for Windows 11, Read this guide.
What is a TPM?
“The Trusted Platform Modules (TPM) is a chip that is either integrated into your PC’s motherboard or added separately into the CPU,” states David Weston, director of enterprise and OS security at Microsoft.
“Its purpose is to protect encryption keys, user credentials, and other sensitive data behind a hardware barrier so that malware and attackers can’t access or tamper with that data.”
After these new requirements were announced, people rushed out to buy separate TPM modules.
Microsoft, can you not impose a TPM requirement during a silicon shortage?
Especially considering most desktop motherboards support TPM only as a purchasable accessory.
— Shen Ye (@shen) June 25, 2021
The reason Microsoft is making this a requirement is due to Windows 11 being designed for hybrid and remote work. Cybersecurity threats and attacks have been on the rise since the start of the pandemic, and with more people working remotely, it becomes increasingly necessary to offer hardware-level protection against attacks.
According to Microsoft’s Director of OS Security on Windows, almost every CPU from the last 5-7 years has TPM in their firmware, though you may need to fiddle with a BIOS setting to enable it.
You can check which specification your PC’s TPM supports by opening “tpm.msc” in the Run box.
Almost every CPU in the last 5-7 years has a TPM. For Intel its called the "Intel PTT" which you set to enabled. For AMD it would be "AMD PSP fTPM". TPMs have been required for OEM certification since at least 2015 and was announced in 2013: https://t.co/1qwfwKSrdd
— DWIZZZLE (@dwizzzleMSFT) June 24, 2021
