Unofficial tool affirms unsupported CPU not meeting system requirements runs Windows 11 24H2

Update: We have some additional context and information regarding this. It looks like CPUs that are even older could indeed get blocked out.

The latest Windows 11 Insider build on the Dev and Beta channels, 26052, is a massive update with plenty of new features and improvements. One of those is the introduction of the new "Sudo for Windows" feature, and although nothing official has been said, it is also already working on Windows 10 and Windows 7.

It may be fair to say though that Sudo was perhaps not the biggest change with this new build, as this is the first version 24H2 build and it might be the reason why many users, including Neowin readers, have been having installation issues.

Since this is a new version of Windows 11, some users are probably interested in the system requirements, and if their system could run Windows 11 24H2, even if their CPU wasn't officially supported.

One of those users also happens to be a tech enthusiast. X (formerly Twitter) user Bob Pony, created an unofficial WinPE (Windows Pre-installation Environment) file that is based on build 26052. Using the utility they verified Windows 11 24H2 works on their Intel Core i7-3770, which is based on the Ivy Bridge architecture and is not on the official CPU support list.

In case you are wondering, Microsoft last updated the list back in November when it added many Intel processors, even unannounced ones, though it missed adding several available AMD chips.

The curiosity is understandable as Windows 11 24H2 is supposedly going to be a fairly major feature update, though the same was not the case for version 23H2. If you missed it, in the meantime, before version 24H2 lands, Moment 5 is also expected and it apparently arrives in less than a month.