It was only a matter of time. Yesterday, ASUS started rolling out Windows 11 support on its PCs that were powered by 6th and 7th gen Intel processors, even though these were not officially supported.
As in, these processors had no mention on the official list that Microsoft had put forward.
Following up, Microsoft has also announced an update to its list of CPUs that support Windows 11, and a whole bunch of 7th-generation Intel chips have made the cut. Some outright, others with caveats. But on the whole, owners of these processors should be pleased to gain official support.
The new list includes the 7th generation Core X-series chips and Xeon W-series processors, though the company has not specified exactly which ones will be supported.
The i7-7820HQ chip also gains support, and this is the one that was used on the Surface Studio 2. Interestingly, devices that draw power from this processor will also need to pack in support for Microsoft’s DCH design principles, else they will not be eligible for the Windows 11 update.
Sadly, it seems that only the elite series of the Intel 7th generation lineup has made the grade, alongside a custom CPU. Processors like the Core i7-7700 miss out here, which is one of the more competent of chips and a very popular one at that.
Unfortunately, no sign of AMD chips in this refreshed list.
This is a shame, really, as the Ryzen processors that missed out on the party are highly capable of running the new operating system, even if they were part of the company’s first-generation Zen architecture.
No indication that Microsoft will add more AMD CPUs to this list either.
Oh well, such is life.
