Unsupported PCs won't be able to test Windows 11 Insider builds anymore

What you need to know

• Some Windows Insiders will have to switch their PCs from Windows 11 to Windows 10.
• PCs that don't meet the minimum requirements for Windows 11 will not receive Windows 11 preview builds going forward.
• Microsoft announced that this would happen when it announced Windows 11.

Windows Insiders with PCs that don't meet the minimum requirements of Windows 11 will have to switch their devices back to Windows 10. Testers in both the Dev and Beta channels are starting to see a message regarding their PC being incompatible with Windows 11. Back in June 2021, Microsoft specified that this would be the case, but the message is starting to appear for Insiders now since the OS is approaching general availability.

The warning from Microsoft (via BetaWiki) that appears in Windows update reads:

While some Windows Insiders will be disappointed to have to bump back down to Windows 10, this isn't a surprise or a change from Microsoft. Back on June 24, 2021, Microsoft explained what would happen to unsupported PCs when it comes to testing Windows 11. A chart from the company explains that some PCs will have to go back to Windows 10 before Windows 11 reaches general availability on October 5, 2021.

Microsoft's Brandon LeBlanc pointed people back to the Windows Insider blog post from June.

If people are determined to have their PCs run Windows 11, they'll be able to manually install Windows 11 onto devices even if they don't meet the minimum requirements for the OS. If upgraded this way, PCs will not be officially supported and might not receive further updates.