The drama continues. Acknowledging its terrible communication on this topic, Microsoft now says it will review its Windows 11 system requirements.

“The intention [here] is to acknowledge and clarify the confusion caused by our PC Health Check tool, share more details as to why we updated the system requirements for Windows 11[,] and set the path for how we will learn and adjust,” a new Windows Insider blog post reads. “We are making changes based on feedback, including ensuring we have the ability for Windows Insiders to install Windows 11 on 7th generation [Intel Core] processors to give us more data about performance and security, updating our PC Health check app to provide more clarity, and committing to more technical detail on the principles behind our decisions.”

Defending the stringent new Windows 11 system requirements, Microsoft says that it only wants to “adapt software and hardware to keep pace with people’s expectations [and] needs[,] and harness the true value and power of the PC to deliver the best experiences, now and in the future.” Windows 11 “raises the bar” on security, hence the TPM 2.0 chipset requirement. It will push the boundaries on reliability. And to be compatible with the apps you already use, it needs the same minimum requirements as Office and Teams.

Finally coming clean on the 8th-generation Intel Core (and AMD Zen 2 and Qualcomm 7/8) requirements, Microsoft now says that it will test whether Windows 11 can work well enough on 7th-generation Intel Core and AMD Zen 1 processors during the short Insider testing period this summer. If they pass muster, users with those processors will be able to upgrade in October (or whenever Microsoft turns on the upgrades, which could be early 2022, actually).

Microsoft’s PC Health Check app “was intended to help people check if their current Windows 10 PC could upgrade to Windows 11,” but the performance of this tool is so horrifically bad that Microsoft is pulling the download to address the feedback it has received. It will make a return sometime this fall ahead of the October release date.

Well, there you go. Some real progress from Windows, with an actual mea culpa and a quick turnaround.