Windows 11 Is Being Made Available To More Windows 10 PCs

Perhaps learning from its embarrassment over the Windows 10 launch a few years back, Microsoft is being less pushy about upgrading to Windows 11 this time around. Or perhaps it's because there are fewer computers that are actually eligible for the upgrade, which limits its potential reach in the first place. Either way, Microsoft is going about pushing the update slowly and surely, and it is now announcing that more Windows 10 users might see a notification that they can upgrade to Windows 11 already.

Part of Microsoft's announcement points to one often overlooked detail about how it rolls out Windows feature updates. Rather than just blindly pushing out the update in waves to certain markets or regions, Microsoft applies machine learning to determine whether certain PCs are eligible to get the upgrade or not. In theory, this process takes into account the myriad combinations of components and peripherals that Windows PCs can have, plus known issues related to those pieces of hardware.

This kind of adaptive learning process has become even more critical for Windows 11 because of the release's system requirements. That has actually been a sore point among PC owners, particularly those with capable hardware that don't meet certain aspects, like TPM 2.0. Those can still install Windows 11 manually on their computers at their own risk, and Microsoft surprisingly even provides instructions on how to do so.

Owners of Windows 10 PCs eligible for the upgrade might start seeing a notification in the next few days. That might actually come as a surprise as well since Microsoft has reportedly been sneaking in its PC Health Check app without user intervention or knowledge. At least that app has been fixed now after a confusing initial release.

If you haven't received the notification yet despite meeting all the requirements, it might just be a matter of time before you get on the list. Microsoft is giving itself until mid-2022 to get all compatible Windows 10 PCs in that queue, so there's plenty of time left. In the meantime, those who do wish to stay on Windows 10, for the time being, can ignore the incessant remainder. And if they upgraded to Windows 11 but didn't like the experience, they can still roll back to Windows 10 within ten days.