A flurry of inflammatory headlines this week insisted that Microsoft had 'raised the white flag' and would allow customers to upgrade old Windows 10 PCs to Windows 11. That's not true. Here's how the comedy of errors unfolded.

Microsoft’s minimum requirements for Windows 11 cover several hardware components, including having enough RAM and a powerful enough microprocessor. But the most contentious issue is whether a PC contains or supports a Trusted Platform Module (TPM), specifically version 2.0, released in 2014.

Microsoft updated its support page to warn users not to run Windows 11 on an unsupported PC, but the company also has official instructions on installing the operating system on devices that don't meet minimum requirements. Generally, that means PCs with a TPM 2.0 chip — a security chip required for Windows 11.

With a surprising move, Microsoft just announced that they are softening the rules on Windows 11 requirements by making the presence of the TPM 2.0 module optional.

It's no secret that Microsoft wants people to upgrade to Windows 11, unless you're doing so on a supported PC. The company does not want people running the latest version of Windows on unsupported hardware, specifically desktops and laptops that lack a TPM 2.0 chip.

Microsoft has updated its list of deprecated features in Windows 11. The latest addition is Windows 11's "suggested actions" menu, which appears when you copy a phone number or date.

Microsoft now lets you install Windows 11 on unsupported devices, despite its previous insistence on the TPM 2.0 requirement.