Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 11 update is set to bring about a significant change that could affect older PCs. The update will require processors to support a new CPU instruction called ‘Population Count (POPCNT)’. This requirement poses a problem for PCs running on dated hardware and even affects the cracked version of Windows 11.
The next major update of Windows 11, expected to be announced later this year and dubbed as Windows 11 24H2 and Windows 12, is anticipated to come with several new features and changes. However, the introduction of the new CPU instruction ‘Population Count (POPCNT)’ is causing concern for users with older PCs.
According to reports, the new CPU instruction is necessary for the processor to support in order to boot Windows 11. This requirement may prevent the operating system from booting in PCs with processors that do not support it. This means that older PCs, particularly those running on dated hardware, may face compatibility issues.
An X user named Bob Pony discovered the change in the latest build of Windows 11 regarding the POPCNT requirement to run the operating system. The post by Pony highlighted that various system files, including the Windows 11 kernel and USB XHCI drivers, require the POPCNT CPU instruction. Without POPCNT, the operating system will not boot.
It is anticipated that this requirement will impact PCs with older processors, such as Core2Duo and Dual Core, which may not support POPCNT. On the other hand, relatively newer processors from both AMD and Intel are expected to support the new requirement. AMD has been offering support for POPCNT for some time, and Intel’s first-generation Intel Core processors have also been supporting POPCNT.
Consequently, PCs that are 15 years or older and running on older generation hardware are likely to be affected, while relatively newer PCs with supported processors will not face the same compatibility issues. This means that older PC users may need to consider upgrading to newer PCs that support POPCNT to ensure compatibility with the upcoming Windows 11 update.
Additionally, there are concerns about whether the cracked version of Windows 11 will work on these older PCs. As of now, it remains to be seen how the new POPCNT requirement will impact the cracked version of Windows 11 and its compatibility with older PCs.
