Your computer may end up in the trash. This is the result of the new update

New update for Windows 11 will bring controversial change. The popular operating system will not run on a significant portion of older computers.

All because of a “minor” change in the configuration of the system installer, which will check whether the processor supports the function POPCNT. If not, it will not allow you to update or install Windows on such a machine.

Windows 11 24H2 with a new requirement

Unlike the previous, often arbitrary requirements of Windows 11, this time attempts to bypass the lock may prove ineffective. Even if we manage to go through the installation process, a computer without POPCNT support simply will not boot.

So HUGE discovery found in Windows 11 Version 24H2, since build 25905.
A CPU with the instruction “POPCNT” IS NOW REQUIRED!
There are various system files requiring the POPCNT CPU instruction, from the Windows 11 kernel to the USB XHCI drivers.

Without POPCNT, it doesn’t boot! pic.twitter.com/vCWYvzfu6k

— Bob Pony (@TheBobPony) February 11, 2024

Contrary to appearances, it is not as much big problem because POPCNT function has been standard for almost 20 years. AMD introduced it with systems based on the K10 architecture in 2007, and Intel in 2008 with the debut of the Nehalem architecture. If someone tries to run Windows 11 on such old computers and – horror of horrors – work on it, they will face a lot of much bigger problems than the lack of access to the next update.

The problem is that Microsoft is not particularly eager to inform users about the new requirement, even though the change has been in force for test versions of the system a long time ago. Specifically, it was first identified in build 25905 from July last year.

As I indicated, it is difficult for me to imagine a scenario in which someone successfully uses Windows 11 on a nearly 20-year-old computer. Nevertheless, I am convinced that there will be such people on the Internet and they will certainly express their dissatisfaction loudly when the 24H2 update reaches a wider audience. Well, someone is facing a PR disaster with delayed ignition.

Meanwhile there’s no point in panicking and predict that because of Microsoft’s decision, millions of computers will end up in e-waste, for a simple reason – most of them have been there for a long time.