Unsupported Hardware on Windows 11 Will Get Watermark

[Corrine]

From Windows 11 gets a new desktop watermark on unsupported hardware:

Microsoft is pushing ahead with plans to warn Windows 11 users that have installed the operating system on unsupported hardware. In a new update to Windows 11, a watermark has appeared on the desktop wallpaper for unsupported systems, alongside a similar warning in the landing page of the settings app.

The new desktop watermark will state “System requirements not met. Go to settings to learn more.”

 

[FreeBooter]

Looks like the watermark can be removed.

How to Remove "System Requirements Not Met" Watermark in Windows 11

 

[britechguy]

It may be removable, but anyone not taking this as a clear sign that Microsoft is likely going to follow through on their statement that updates to Windows 11 will not be supplied on incompatible hardware is, as the old adage goes, "Whistling past the graveyard."

I had little doubt that someone would figure out how to get rid of the watermark. Ignoring what it implies, well, . . .

 

[Corrine]

Essentially, the watermark is merely a form of a warning that, as @britechguy indicated, updates to Windows 11 with incompatible hardware are not likely in the future. The cited article pointed out that "the desktop watermark can likely be disabled with some registry changes".

 

[britechguy]

@Corrine,

Unsurprisingly, we have some members of the tech community arguing, some pretty vociferously, that Microsoft can't be serious about not updating Windows 11 on unsupported hardware if they allowed the installation in the first place.

Memories of "variances" that Microsoft has allowed in the past, and how they were allowed, become misty. But just the fact that the only way to install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware is via completely clean install is a huge shift in usual practice since the era of Windows As A Service began. That was the first indicator, to me, that they are serious about cutting off updates once "the Windows 11 shake out period" is over. The watermark is the second. I suspect there will be one more, and one that will be "big and bold," before the cut-off actually occurs.

But people are going to do what they want to; they always do. And the chips will fall where they may; they always do.

 

[ubuysa]

@Corrine,

Unsurprisingly, we have some members of the tech community arguing, some pretty vociferously, that Microsoft can't be serious about not updating Windows 11 on unsupported hardware if they allowed the installation in the first place.

Memories of "variances" that Microsoft has allowed in the past, and how they were allowed, become misty. But just the fact that the only way to install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware is via completely clean install is a huge shift in usual practice since the era of Windows As A Service began. That was the first indicator, to me, that they are serious about cutting off updates once "the Windows 11 shake out period" is over. The watermark is the second. I suspect there will be one more, and one that will be "big and bold," before the cut-off actually occurs.

But people are going to do what they want to; they always do. And the chips will fall where they may; they always do.

I'm in full agreement here. Windows 11 was really all about allowing Windows to make use of the security features found only in modern CPUs, so allowing its installation on hardware that doesn't have these features is well, strange. IMO, if you choose to run Windows 11 on unsupported hardware you have to accept that one day it just might not work any more...