Microsoft’s next biggest Windows 11 update will unofficially dump all the older PCs, as the Redmond company is mandating the need for POPCNT instruction now.
POPCNT is an old CPU instruction used for counting numbers in a binary representation, which was introduced in 2008. So, all the PCs before this date won’t support the upcoming Windows 11 update(24H2), effectively cutting them off from the ecosystem.
No Windows 11 For Older PCs
Microsoft has long entertained users running it’s latest OS on older PCs despite setting strict hardware requirements. Well, the company is now upping the game with a new requirement – POPCNT instruction for booting the next-gen Windows 11.
As noted by Bob Pony, the latest Windows 11 Insider build(which is suppose to roll out as 24H2 to the general public later this year) has a new hardware requirement called POPCNT for booting the system.
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
POPCNT is an abbreviation for population count and is used to count numbers in a binary representation. Intel introduced this in 2008 in its Nehalem microarchitecture and AMD with it’s Barcelona microarchitecture.
Microsoft mandates the need for POPCNT in the upcoming Windows 11 builds and effectively dumps any PC that doesn’t have this instruction. While there are several tricks to install Windows 11 on an unsupported system, these may not help this time, as not having a POPCNT CPU feature means your PC is deemed to have an unsupported CPU, so it’ll simply not boot.
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