In March 2022 Microsoft started testing putting a watermark on Windows 11 builds warning users with incompatible PCs. This watermark serves as a reminder, stating “System requirements not met” and that customers can “Learn more”. While the watermark was initially in the Windows Settings but Microsoft eventually brought it to the desktop.
Since then the Watermark has been in preview on the Dev Channel. However, Microsoft is now spreading the watermark to Windows 11 22H2 builds on the Beta Channel. Specifically, users running Windows build 22621 is now showing the “system requirements not met” on the desktop.
The watermark is exactly what it appears. It is a warning for users who are running Windows 11 on a PC that is not compatible with the operating system.
In October 2022, with the release of the Windows 11 2022 Update, Microsoft updated the list of compatible CPUs that can run the OS. However, the update did not add any previously unsupported processors to the list.
Instead, the company made the platform compatible with newly launched processors such as Intel's 13th Gen Raptor Lake-S CPUs and AMD's Ryzen 7000 series desktop CPUs.
Compatibility Requirements
Microsoft's full hardware requirements for Windows 11 are:
- A modern 64-bit processor. Windows 11 is only a 64-bit platform, with no 32-bit version.
- 1Ghz clock speed
- 2 cores
- 64GB drive
- 4GB RAM
- UEFI, Secure Book capable & TPM 2.0
- 9-inch display with 1366×768 resolution
- DirectX 12 compatible graphics / WDDM 2.x
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