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[HPsauce]

I'm going to swap the drives from my present PC to the new one. I know this is potentially a minefield as Windows will detect a new motherboard, but I have done it before and have been able to use it for a few years now. I'm just getting a new PC as the present one does not meet the criteria for Windows 11, and in any case it sounds like a helicopter taking off.

Moving System discs to a new mobo is almost guaranteed to fail authentication, though you can try the phone-in method afterwards, it might work.

I've upgraded quite a few older PCs now to Windows 11 with minimal problems.
Some I have done a clean install, others just an upgrade from W10 (often initially from W7). NONE were considered suitable my MS!
I've also moved disks around and/or replaced them with SSDs.

Authentication hasn't been a problem except (trivially) on an old W7 system where the key (on the label on the PC) had to be typed in again.

There are ways around almost all the limitations if you look online, certainly for a clean install (simple registry edits in most cases).

I've also found methods for doing upgrades though one of them (Windows 11 image in a Windows 10 update wrapper) seems to "break" Windows Security. You then need to do a subsequent Windows 11 upgrade with a minor "modification" to get it all working. (Ref: appraiserres.dll )

As long as you have a dual-core processor and enough disk space it all seems to run fine, though 4GB ram is a bit tight, 8GB is better.

[Alex Atkin UK]

I still think hacks to upgrade none compliant PCs to Windows 11 is very ill advised.

Presumably they plan for more software to make use of TPM in the future, at which point that software wont work.

I'm kinda surprised they didn't make the Windows Store use TPM, that would be the most logical reason for why they deprecated support for some relatively new hardware in the first place.  Then again, I think they are being forced to go the other direction as the current Windows Apps restrictions makes game modding impossible which hugely discourages purchasing on the service.  I played Dying Light on Gamepass and it completely broke, the only fix was to disable a video file, which you can't do on the Windows Store version.

[Jaggies]

Just to close this off, I have had a refund of the full amount from my bank for the payment to Computer Planet, and my new PC arrived from Punch Technology yesterday.
I spent most of last evening ensuring I had a full back-up of both my hard drives, and will get them installed in the new PC tonight.

[Alex Atkin UK]

That's good to hear.  I'm a lot more wary of ordering from companies I've never heard of before these days as there are a lot of scammers out there, or foreign companies pretending to be based in the UK.

[HPsauce]

I still think hacks to upgrade none compliant PCs to Windows 11 is very ill advised.

I'm not sure "hacks" is the right word, most of them are simple registry edits published by Microsoft themselves.
The "hacks" I've seen are mostly shortcuts to achieve the same net result with a quicker process.

I also note that Microsoft have very recently withdrawn the very tool (Windows PC Health Check app) that tested the "advice".
It's also been reported that:
"Meanwhile, Microsoft has also released an Insider Preview of Windows 11 that you can download and install on an existing Windows 10 computer to confirm that it will work. The preview edition does not include requirements for Secure Boot or for the Trusted Platform Module, but does check for a compatible processor, and it checks that the computer meets the minimum system requirements otherwise."

I think all the systems I've worked on would comply with that Insider Preview version, it's only ever been TPM and Secure Boot that have been an issue.

In what way do you think it's ill-advised?

[Alex Atkin UK]

Basically there is zero guarantee a Windows Update wont permanently break compatibility at a deeper level.  Insider Previews are different as by their nature they are development builds and aren't intended for use on a PC you need to work reliably.

[HPsauce]

True. I guess the fallback is to revert to W10.
Though Microsoft are perfectly capable of releasing something that will "permanently break compatibility at a deeper level" in the normal course of events.

I actually quite like W11 so it's a risk I'll live with for now, until proved wrong. 

[Alex Atkin UK]

W11 feels faster to me, but I HATE the right click menu changes.  Fortunately I hardly need to use as its only on my gaming PCs.