With the switch from Windows 10 to Windows 11, Microsoft has introduced new rules for obtaining system updates. Once a year, a new version of Windows 11 is released, which can receive updates for two years. The latest version is 24H2, which can be used until autumn 2026. The predecessor, 23H2, is safe until autumn 2025. 22H2, on the other hand, has not received any security updates since October 2024.
It is advisable not to skip any of the current updates under any circumstances. Otherwise, Windows 11 may not update normally without a hardware check, but instead upgrade with a hardware check, which can cause problems. So if you update from version X to X1, everything runs fine. From X1 to X2 everything is also fine afterwards. However, if you skip X1 and want to update from X to X2, the operating system may perform an upgrade with a hardware check, which can present you with a variety of challenges.
The current objective, non-bypassable hardware requirements for installing the latest Windows 11 version are 4 GB of RAM, an SSD as the main data carrier (no HDD) and a processor that supports the SSE4.2 instruction set extension. This can be any Intel or AMD processor manufactured from 2008 onwards.
With the Windows 11 Ultra Stick, you can not only install the latest version of Windows 11 on any computer or laptop that supports these minimum requirements. You can also upgrade Windows 10 installations or older Windows 11 versions without reinstalling the operating system.