Windows 11 gets new desktop watermark on unsupported hardware

Tech giant Microsoft is pushing ahead with plans to warn Windows 11 users that have installed the operating system on unsupported hardware. In a new update to Windows 11, a watermark has appeared on the desktop wallpaper for unsupported systems, alongside a similar warning in the landing page of the settings app, reports The Verge.

The tech giant had been testing these changes last month, but they are now rolling out to Release Preview just ahead of a full release to all Windows 11 users in the coming days. While Microsoft does not mention the addition of a watermark in its "improvements" list for this update, testers have noticed it's included.

If Windows 11 is running on unsupported hardware, a new desktop watermark will state "System requirements not met. Go to settings to learn more". It is similar, but far less prominent, to the semi-transparent watermark that appears in Windows if users have not activated the OS.

It is been possible to bypass Microsoft's minimum hardware requirements for Windows 11 and install the operating system freely, the report said. The controversial hardware requirements mean Windows 11 only officially supports Intel 8th Gen Coffee Lake or Zen and Zen 2 CPUs and up, leaving millions of PCs behind. Anyone that has used the workaround will now start to see this warning in Windows 11, as per the report.