Windows 11's first update is being rolled out to unsupported PCs after all

Windows 11's first update is out, and despite various warnings to users on unsupported hardware that they might not receive updates for the OS, it looks like many have at least received the initial one.

Microsoft currently warns users with older hardware not officially supported by its new OS that they won't be entitled to receive updates. But I guess there's a difference between whether Microsoft deigns your PC worthy and whether a specific update is rolled out to your machine anyways.

In the case of Windows 11's first update, which arrived on October 12, users' may have luck on their side. Multiple reports from across the web (Reddit (opens in new tab), WinFuture (opens in new tab), Digital Trends (opens in new tab), to name a few) suggest that the latest update is being automatically downloaded onto technically unsupported machines.

The update itself includes security improvements and fixes an issue present with Intel Killer and SmartByte networking software. So potentially an important fix if that bug has been bothering you.

What the update hasn't yet fixed, however, is an issue with Ryzen L3 cache latency (opens in new tab), which is reportedly slowing down AMD processors significantly (opens in new tab).

But here's hoping Microsoft's willingness to update unsupported hardware continues, although doing so once doesn't preclude Microsoft from closing the door to older CPUs with later updates.

If you still haven't made the switch to Windows 11 yet, we don't blame you, but also you'll need to check your PC passes the Microsoft 11 security test (opens in new tab), along with the PC requirements (opens in new tab). Any 8th Gen Intel or Ryzen 3000-series processor or newer is ready to go, while some older processors pass the test, but not all.