It seems that Microsoft is allowing Windows 11 to install on machines that may not have the required TPM 2.0.
Trusted Platform Module (TPM, also known as ISO/IEC 11889) is an international standard for a secure cryptoprocessor, a dedicated microcontroller designed to secure hardware through integrated cryptographic keys. The term can also refer to a chip conforming to the standard.
On the Microsoft website there are instructions pertaining to the modification of the registry configurations that would allow the installer to bypass the TPM 2.0/cpu check.
Here is the registry edit you’ll need according to Microsoft:
Registry Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup\MoSetup
Name: AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU
Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1
Microsoft doesn’t recommend that you install this OS on a machine that doesn’t meet it’s strict requirements, but the installation is allowed — it’s strongly advised however that you should at least have the TPM 1.2 existing on your machine if you plan to install Windows 11 anyway.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ways-to-install-windows-11-e0edbbfb-cfc5-4011-868b-2ce77ac7c70e
Some older machines will function pretty good, while yet others may not — it all pretty much just depends on your processor.
I’ve been running Windows 11 on an HP laptop from the very beginning through Microsoft’s insider program and I haven’t had any trouble with the build.
The specs for the (very slow) HP laptop are:
Intel Core i5-4300M CPU @260 GHz
12GB RAM
64bit
1.2 TPM
This laptop is the oldest/slowest unit I’ve got and I’ll figure it to be a starting point for Windows 11.
My much faster ASUS unit has an AMD Ryzen 5 5600 w/6 cores, runs out at about 32GB RAM, and it thinks that Windows 11 is the Bees Knees.