Making folks really feel unhealthy concerning the PCs they use is an odd try to be standard, but it surely seems to be like Microsoft might be doing simply that.

In keeping with Home windows Newest (opens in new tab), the January 2023 Home windows 11 replace, which is continuous to roll out to folks all over the world, has began displaying a brand new watermark on the desktop that claims “System necessities not met”.

When Home windows 11 launched, it got here with a fancy set of necessities, which included the necessity for TPM 2.0 (Trusted Platform Module), a reasonably obscure characteristic that resulted in lots of PCs and laptops that will have in any other case been capable of run Home windows 11 with out challenge (as they did with Home windows 10), being deemed unsuitable for the working system.

It led to a scenario the place folks with new and highly effective PCs have been being instructed they will’t run Home windows 11, in addition to folks with older {hardware} that till that second hadn’t felt the necessity to improve.

It didn’t take lengthy earlier than workarounds cropped up that allowed folks with {hardware} that didn’t meet the minimal advisable necessities to put in Home windows 11 – and for some time it appeared like they might fortunately run the OS with out TPM 2.0.

Time to nag

Nevertheless, it appears Microsoft isn’t content material to let this proceed, because it’s testing out placing a noticeable watermark on desktops of PCs that don’t meet the necessities. Whereas Microsoft isn’t blocking updates to these machines (but), some folks might discover the watermark annoying sufficient to improve their PC.

Annoying folks into spending cash to replace their {hardware} is definitely a dangerous method to get folks in your aspect, and on Microsoft’s half, it’ll possible declare that these watermarks act as a warning that the PC getting used isn’t safe.

That argument could also be extra persuasive if Microsoft made it clearer what the advantages of TPM 2.Zero are. The truth that individuals who have been utilizing Home windows 10 (and even Home windows 11) on units with out TPM 2.Zero with none points can even undermine Microsoft’s claims.

As a substitute, it’ll possible simply annoy folks, and most will both ignore any watermarks, or discover a workaround to take away it. In the meantime, for individuals who merely can’t afford new {hardware}, the watermark might really feel like they’re being shamed concerning the units they use.

Quite than taking this strategy, Microsoft could be higher off both highlighting the significance of TPM 2.0-capable {hardware}, or (even higher) change the necessities of Home windows 11 so extra folks can formally use it.

We’ll be maintaining a tally of this to see if Microsoft finally ends up together with the watermark for everybody in any upcoming Home windows 11 updates.