Even Some Microsoft Employees Can't Upgrade to Windows 11

pcmag.com:

Strict hardware requirements for Windows 11 are even preventing some of Microsoft’s own employees from upgrading to the OS. 

In a blog post discussing internal efforts to roll out Windows 11 to its employees, Microsoft said it had to upgrade 190,000 employee devices to the OS in a mere five weeks. 

The company described the undertaking as perhaps the “smoothest” upgrade cycle Microsoft has ever had. Still, not every employee machine was eligible for the OS. “Windows 11 has specific hardware requirements, and a percentage of our devices were not upgraded,” Content and Social Program Manager Lukas Velush wrote in the blog post. 

Velush didn't disclose how many devices were ineligible for the upgrade. But in the meantime, “the employees with these devices will continue to run Windows 10 in parallel and get a Windows 11 device at their next device refresh,” Velush wrote. Of the 190,000 devices that qualified for and attempted a Windows 11 upgrade, the transition was 99% successful, he said.

Windows 11 launched last year, but the free upgrade to the OS is only available to Windows 10 PCs released in the last few years. As a result, millions of existing desktops and laptops will remain on Windows 10 unless their owners throw caution to the wind and manually upgrade to the new OS. 

The strict hardware requirements might help explain why many users appear to be sticking with Windows 10. Recent surveys show Windows 11’s market share is only around 15% to 20% while one poll even suggests the usage rate is lower than Windows XP.  At the same time, some users have told us that Windows 11 offers them no compelling reason to upgrade.  

Microsoft's blog post notes the company's own employees aren't exactly clamoring for the upgrade.