A support document showing users how to install Windows 11 on unsupported PCs was deleted sometime in the past two months. Its disappearance, noticed by Neowin, echoes Microsoft’s recent “year of the Windows 11 PC refresh” rhetoric, encouraging (or forcing) users to buy new PCs that meet Windows 11 hardware requirements.
When Windows 11 launched in 2021, Microsoft announced that it was adding TPM 2.0 as a hardware requirement — a move that was met with plenty of resistance. To soften the blow, Microsoft also published a support document detailing how users could edit their registry key values to bypass the TPM 2.0 check.
It had always been laden with warnings, making it clear that users who used the workaround did so at their own risk, but now, by deleting the document, it appears that Microsoft doesn’t endorse the registry key trick at all anymore.
Meanwhile, the requirement itself is still controversial and with support for Windows 10 coming to an end this year, Microsoft had to clarify that this would not lead to any changes to the Windows 11 hardware criteria.
Once support ends, there will likely be a large number of people who will continue to use Windows 10 on older PCs. Without critical security updates, these machines will become vulnerable to viruses and malware, and unfortunately, this could lead to a much higher risk of older users falling victim to cybercrime.
If you still want to try the TPM 2.0 bypass trick, you can access the old support article with the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. It’s not clear whether the trick has been disabled or if Microsoft just wants to stop advertising it, but it’s worth a try.
Mozilla is giving Firefox’s Smart Window two new tricks. If you haven’t tried it yet, Smart Window is an optional AI mode in Firefox with a built-in chat that helps you get things done while you browse. With this update, it can fill out online forms using details from your tabs and keep an eye on websites for you.
Tired of typing the same details into every form?
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.