Millions of PC users around the globe are still running the Windows 7 operating system. Although Microsoft has officially stopped supporting Windows 7 for over a year now (stopped on January 14, 2020), Microsoft is currently offering paid security updates to businesses running Windows 7.
If you are also using an edition of Windows 7 and your PC meets the stringent minimum hardware requirement set for Windows 11, you might be thinking of upgrading to Windows 11 by skipping Windows 10.
Can you run Windows 7 programs on Windows 11?
As per this page of Microsoft, the best thing is that programs that are compatible with Windows 7 will run on Windows 11 as well. This means that you can run Windows 7 programs on Windows 11 without any issues.
Additionally, Windows 11 also offers the Windows Compatibility mode, which one can use to run incompatible programs on Windows 11.
When you upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 11, you will miss several features of Windows 11. For example, features like desktop gadgets, Windows Media Center, and Internet Explorer are no longer available. That said, Windows 11 is a significant upgrade, especially for Windows 7 users, given that Windows 11 offers a completely refreshed user interface.
If you are on Windows 7 and planning to upgrade to Windows 11, we recommend you check if your PC can run Windows 11. Remember that with Windows 11, Microsoft increased minimum system requirements to run the operating system, and it now requires a 64-bit CPU, TPM 2.0, and secure boot, among other requirements.
And if your PC does support Windows 11, you cannot perform a direct upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 11. Instead, you will have to clean install Windows 11.
Windows 11 is expected to be released by the end of this year.
Tip: Although it’s 64-bit only, Windows 11 supports 32-bit applications as well.
PeTrIeS VaNdErDoNk says
You can still launch Internet Explorer in the latest Windows 11.
1.) Click search/start menu, type internet options, or alternatively hit ?+R type
inetcpl.cpl
2.) Head to the tab and click
3.) Click the second web link from the bottom lefthand corner, it’s titled
‘Learn more about toolbars & extensions’
Enjoy your nostalgic journey with IE11, it’s pretty locked down though i.e. installing add-ons etc.
Also, I’ll mention that most sites will complain & block access stating the browser isn’t supported, some can be circumvented by changing the ‘user agent’ via ‘developer options’ (F12) it’s under the ‘Emulation’ tab.
Paul says
I all ready have a winows 11 pro my old m ini mac quit i Have windows 7 thumb drive How do I run them
Dipak Kumar Das says
IDear sir is it possible to installe windows 7 In Lenovo Ideapade 1…..windows 11. If possible please reply me.
Jose says
thanks for the very useful information