New Windows 11 Watermark
On this site and others, there have been several comments and articles about using a workaround to install Windows 11 on unsupported devices. I am surprised at how many people were able to achieve this without any major hitches. If you have managed to put Windows 11 on an unsupported screen, get ready for the new Windows 11 Watermark.
The watermark will appear on the desktop wallpaper in the bottom right and on the opening page of Windows Settings.
Is The Warning Really Needed?
To be honest, my original feeling was negative. If a hobbyist manages to overcome the limitations placed by Windows’s inability to recognize all the processor’s requirements out there, I think the notification on the Desktop is an unwarranted annoyance.
That however was a narrow view of the purpose of the watermark. In retrospect, it makes sense to include the watermark if the person that is performing the workaround is not doing it for personal use but rather to turn around and sell that PC as a valid Windows 11 PC
The concept is not new, when any Windows System is not activated it always displayed a warning that “this is not a valid copy of Windows” or “Windows is not activated” to prevent people from using a valid Windows Disk and making copies on other PCs and then selling them as a valid version of Windows.
As I said, I am surprised by the number of people that have managed to install Windows 11 on an unsupported PC and I believe Microsoft is too. That is why the watermark was created. If I thought that once it was achieved it was a true working version of Windows 11, I would be less receptive to the added watermark but who is to say that an update two, three, or six months from now will invalidate the workaround. If I was on the receiving end of purchasing a used PC with Windows 11, I would want to know. The watermark is now an assurance for buyers rather than a nuisance for a hobbyist.
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That is a bunch of B/S!!!! W11 system requirements have nothing to do with what a PC can and or cannot run. I have two desktop and one laptop running W11 just fine. Have not seen any watermark, but I will watching.
Hi Daniel, at first I thought so too but when you think about it, you have no assurance that the next update will work or even if you purchase a new software only to find out that the configuration of that machine will make it crash. I think it protects a buyer from being sold a Win 11 machine that isn’t one.
I understand the risk involved, and if MS pulls the plug, then my machines will go back to
W10 and or Linux. You know as well as I that MS could have allowed more PC’s to run W11.
So I either spend some of my nest egg, rebuilding or buying, a W11 capable machine, or I
try to be creative.
The system requirements for Win 11 is more about security than about the hardware. Of course, the more out of date a system is, the less likely it is that component drivers will be available to work with the new operating system. That’s where the problem really lies.