A significant proportion (43 percent) of all business devices are still unable to upgrade to Windows 11 because of hardware requirements imposed by Microsoft, according to new research (opens in new tab) published by IT management company Lansweeper.
TechRadar Pro previously reported in March 2022 that many millions of business PCs were ineligible to upgrade to Windows 11, in part due to their processors lacking Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 (opens in new tab) compatibility, a feature Windows 11 requires.
Lansweeper claims that the situation has eased since we covered its last report, with the percentage of devices clearing the CPU and TPM requirements rising by 12%. At this level of growth, all devices should be compatible with Windows 11 by 2026.
Windows 11 in the workplace
However, Lansweeper still found that only 57% of the devices tested had CPUs that met Microsoft’s requirements. More than a third (35%) of workstations tested were incompatible with TPM or had it disabled, while virtual machines fared worse – with only 1% supporting or having TPM enabled.
Furthermore, the growth level of Windows-11 compatible devices that Lansweeper has seen still falls short of the end-of-life deadline for Windows 10: October 14, 2025. On this date, Windows 10 will stop receiving vital security and feature updates.
This is important, as 82% of all Windows devices are still running Windows 10. A steady growth rate for compatible devices isn’t guaranteed, and any devices still running the previous iteration of the operating system will become increasingly vulnerable to malware and ransomware attacks.
This is a large part of why a great deal of cyberattacks target healthcare and educational institutions. Organizations neglect to update operating systems, usually to preserve a software or database solution that “just works”, and so become easy targets for malicious threat actors who value their sensitive personal data.
Only 3% of all Windows users currently use Windows 11. By comparison, 1% of users are still using the 21-year-old Windows XP, and so it’s fair to say that businesses are still unaware as to why they ought to invest in new hardware.
As much as it may seem counterproductive, especially in a recession, organizations are advised to update the hardware powering their business for long-term confidence in their security posture, and look to save money in other areas, such as their software solutions.