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Not upgraded to Windows 11 yet? You could miss out on faster Wi-Fi as a result

August 24, 2023
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A leaked Intel document has seemingly confirmed that users on Windows 10 and older operating systems won’t be able to enjoy Wi-Fi 7 when it launches next year.

The document, posted on Twitter by leaker @g01d3nm4ng0, lists Windows 11, Linux, and ChromeOS as supported platforms for the new Wi-Fi standard. While it isn’t explicitly stated that Windows 10 won’t be supported, it’s not an unreasonable extrapolation to make.

A document reveals Windows 10 doesn’t support Wi-Fi 7, due to lack of Windows 10 driver certified by Microsoft. Qualcomm and MediaTek Wi-Fi 7 don’t support Windows 10 either. Microsoft limits Wi-Fi 7 to Windows 11 only? 🧐🧐🧐GaP2/MtP2: Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200/BE202 pic.twitter.com/m5tIJoOI4OAugust 23, 2023

Wi-Fi 7 is expected to provide some seriously advanced data transmission techniques to offer speeds potentially close to five times faster than Wi-Fi 6, along with superior reliability, range, and power efficiency. Intel has been leading the charge to implement the new technology as early as 2024, so it’s unsurprising that’s where this leak originated from.

That being said, it likely isn’t Intel’s fault that Windows 10 (and presumably older versions of Windows) won’t support the new Wi-Fi standard. Microsoft has had a hard time pushing Windows 11 to users, and this is just another factor the tech giant can point to and say ‘look, you’re missing out on this!’

The death knell of Windows 10

Let’s face it: we’re going to have to let go of Windows 10 eventually. With Windows 12 just peeking over the horizon, it was inevitable that some new features wouldn’t make the cut for our beloved 10.

Still, it’s a shame to see Microsoft so aggressively pushing forward – especially when it’s arguably ahead of the curve when it comes to its operating system. Windows Copilot and the general slew of AI-powered updates for the OS show that Microsoft doesn’t even need version 12 to innovate in Windows, so why keep pushing ahead with major version releases like this?

Frustrations have been fairly widespread with regard to Windows 11, hampering adoption in a big way despite Microsoft offering free upgrades for existing Windows users. Part of the problem is the strict hardware requirements for Win11, which entirely prevent some users from upgrading past Windows 10 (the TPM 2.0 requirement is a particular sticking point here). Early leaks have suggested that Windows 12 will also come with new minimum system requirements, locking out even more people on outdated builds.

Still, if you can upgrade to Windows 11 and have simply been putting it off out of laziness or distrust of the new OS, now might be the time to start considering it. Wi-Fi 7 devices and routers aren’t available yet, but when they do arrive, you won’t want to find yourself stuck with slower wireless internet speeds just because you didn’t upgrade!

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

November 24, 2021
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It's now been over a month since Microsoft released the latest version of Windows but a new survey suggests less than one percent of PC users have upgraded to Windows 11.

According to new research from the IT asset management firm Lansweeper, just 0.21 percent of PC users are currently running Windows 11 despite the fact that it is available as a free update for Windows 10 users.

The company's recent investigation used data from more than 10m Windows devices running on business and home networks to find that Windows 11 is the fifth most popular Windows operating system. In fact, more PCs are running Windows XP (3.62%) and even Windows 8 (0.95%) than are running Windows 11.

One of the reasons could be due to Microsoft's TPM requirements as many systems lack the necessary hardware to run Windows 11.

End of Life operating systems

Lansweeper's report also shows that almost 1 in 10 (9.93%) of the Windows devices it scanned are running End of Life operating systems including Windows XP and Windows 7 which Microsoft stopped supporting back in 2014 and 202 respectively.

Chief marketing officer at Lansweeper, Roel Decneut provided further insight on the dangers and security risk of running End of Life operating systems in a press release, saying:

“The situation poses a significant cybersecurity risk as Microsoft no longer provides bug-fixes or security patches for Windows Vista, 2000, XP, and 7. Although the majority of users are on newer operating systems, the billions of active Windows devices worldwide means there could still be millions of people using devices that are insecure and open to attack. Plus, a large number of these outdated systems are predicted to be running on enterprise devices, which means it’s not just personal information that’s on the line.”

While some individuals and businesses may not be ready to upgrade to Windows 11 just yet, running an older version of Windows that is no longer receiving security updates from Microsoft can put your PC at a much higher risk of falling victim to malware and other cyberattacks.

Looking to upgrade your systems for Windows 11? Check out our roundup of the best business computers as well as our lists of the best business laptops, best workstations and best mobile workstations

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

November 9, 2020
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It’s the end of the line for the May 2019 Update, as official support runs out in less than a month.

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

January 26, 2020
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AMD’s Wraith Prism cooler, which comes bundled with some of its latest 3rd-gen Ryzen processors (and the Ryzen 7 2700X), is suffering from a surprising problem – namely fakes of the cooling solution are floating around.

Initially, it was thought that the respected RGB stock cooler had been upgraded by AMD, and just not announced yet, when photos of a very similar-looking model to the Wraith Prism emerged over at XFastest – except this one had six heat pipes, rather than the four that the standard model has.

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However, AMD quickly took to Twitter to clarify that these cooling solutions with six heat pipes are illegitimate fakes designed to look like the Wraith Prism, and that they (obviously) have not been tested and validated by AMD.

Thermal trickery

So instead of speculation about how good this six pipe cooler might be, now the speculation is about what on earth is going on here. And indeed if this cooler is bundled with an AMD CPU, could there be something amiss with the chip itself?

Obviously something shady is happening, and it raises the prospect of an operation perhaps buying OEM chips, and pairing them with the fake cooler, to sell at full retail price (or possibly even fake chips – which we’ve seen in the past with Ryzen – with the fake cooler).

Although if this is the idea, quite why the cooler would be slightly different with the additional heat pipes, well, that’s anyone’s guess (in terms of not raising the profile of this counterfeiting).

Regardless, obviously you should be careful about this new counterfeit product. While it might be tempting to think that with the two extra heat pipes, this could be a better cooling solution than the official AMD-produced Wraith Prism, if it’s been made as a third-party knockoff, there’s every chance there could be all manner of things amiss in terms of the innards. Even if externally, it looks like a good copy of the original.