【1】Preface

As outdated operating system platforms, the user base for Windows XP and Windows 7 has become quite limited. According to data provided by StatCounter in October 2023 (see the specific image below), the market share of these two classic operating systems may have fallen below 5%. Particularly for Windows XP, most mainstream software has long ceased to provide updates for new versions, and it is now mostly used in specific fields such as industrial control, laboratory instruments, ATMs, and point-of-sale systems. Many new software and games no longer support Windows 7, making Windows 10/11 the absolute mainstream in the market.

【2】XP System Requirements

Despite the fact that previous generations of operating systems had very low hardware requirements, they often employed a forced obstruction of chipset support to prevent consumers from installing older versions of the operating system on new platforms. For instance, the last generation of platforms that supported the installation of the Windows XP operating system should be the 4th generation Haswell and its corresponding 8-series chipset.

In other words, if you want to assemble a high-performance computer that can run the Windows XP operating system, you could opt for the i7-4790K processor, which is almost comparable to a "supercomputer" for the CPUs released in October 2001, the same era as XP. However, two critical issues with the XP system are its poor disk resource management capabilities and inadequate support for "new" hardware like SSDs, and the fact that XP can only utilize approximately 3.2GB of memory at most. ... Because almost no one would install and use the 64-bit version of XP, and 3GB of memory is virtually unusable today. That is to say, if you assemble a flagship configuration computer for the XP platform, the relevant combination might be i7-4790K + Z87 + 4GB DDR3, and as for the hard drive, it would definitely be an SSD, since they are all faster than mechanical hard drives.

【3】Windows Vista System Requirements

Vista, aside from being particularly aesthetically pleasing, was almost useless and is one of the shortest-lived operating systems from Microsoft.The system demands were extremely high. In 2006, just the operating system alone required users to have a system memory of 1GB, which, for a consumer market filled with Pentium 4, Celeron 4 processors, and ubiquitous 256MB/512MB memory configurations, was akin to asking people to run 3D games out of the box. Compatibility was also extremely poor; this wouldn't run, that wasn't compatible, and it was very sluggish.

The corresponding Office 2007 was also one of the most unsuccessful, similarly a "big beauty" with not many more features than 2003, a significant increase in system resource consumption, and document opening speeds that were incredibly slow.

**4** Windows 7 System Requirements

As for the Windows 7 platform, released in October 2009, Microsoft and Intel had long wanted to cease compatibility support for it. However, due to the vast number of basic users, Intel specifically extended the life of Windows 7, appearing in the form of the ninth generation Coffee Lake-Refresh, which are the H310C and B365. The system configuration requirements for Windows 7 were actually reduced compared to Vista, as many flashy effects were eliminated. Even with Aero enabled, it was not as visually appealing as Vista.

Ironically, both H310/B360 are native, brand-new chipsets on the 14nm process, while the new H310C/B365 are a regression to the 22nm process, essentially rebranded H110/H270. As for the Z370, it's needless to say, it was the first chipset to support the 8th generation processors, hastily developed using the Z270 chipset that was paired with the 7th generation CPUs. For nearly half a year, it was used with the entire series of 8th generation processors. The 14nm Z390 came later, introduced alongside the 9th generation.

That is to say, the highest-level platform for installing the Win 7 operating system is theoretically the Z370 with the i9-9900KS. However, there are exceptions. On one hand, the entire series of 300 chipsets have been developed by netizens and can install Win 7. Additionally, the 400/500/600 chipsets have not completely blocked compatibility with this operating system at the hardware level. You can easily find corresponding installation tutorials online (the early 22nm B460 was considered the last generation that could legitimately install Win 7).

According to Intel's design, the standard flagship configuration for running Windows 7 on a regular desktop should be the Z370 with the i9-9900KS, or alternatively, the B460 with the i9-10900K.

**5** Windows 8/8.1

The most difficult aspect of Windows 8/8.1 to accept initially was the tile-based Start menu, designed solely for tablet or touch users. In reality, normal users of laptops or desktops would never switch to this page. This feature was "selectively" retained in Win 10 and by the time of Win 11, it had disappeared by default.

Win 8/8.1 was actually quite successful. Its flat design style further reduced the configuration requirements, and features like fast boot times allowed users to experience the joy of starting up in just a few seconds. Paired with an SSD, the experience was exhilarating. However, once Win 10 matured, users' choices would only be limited to 7 or 10, and not consider the in-between 8 or 8.1. If you suddenly see a computer running Windows 8/8.1 today, would you feel nostalgic, familiar, or incredibly alienated?【6】Windows 10/11

In principle, there is no difference in the system requirements for Windows 10/11, and the differences from Windows 8/8.1 are also minimal. The only addition in Windows 11 is the detection process for TPM 2.0 (Trusted Platform Module), which means that platforms with a chipset lacking the TPM 2.0 component or without the relevant features enabled cannot install Windows 11. In other words, at least Intel's 200 series chipsets and later, as well as AMD's full series of Ryzen chipsets (A320 or higher), are required to support Windows 11.

In reality, there are many ways to bypass this detection, allowing the installation process on older platforms to proceed smoothly. The default centered Start menu in Windows 11 can be set to the left in the taskbar settings, thus aligning with Windows 10. The folded right-click menu can be made to expand automatically by modifying the registry or by holding the "Shift" key while right-clicking.

Windows 10 was officially released in July 2015 and has been around for eight years, indicating its compatibility with various mainstream x86 architecture processor platforms over the past decade or so, such as Intel Core i's 1st to 14th generations and various AMD modular and Ryzen architecture processors. In theory, Windows 11 can also be compatible with the aforementioned platforms after bypassing the TPM module detection. Windows 11 is indeed more advanced and is more recommended for use with hybrid architecture processors, such as the i5-13400.