The days of Windows 10 are numbered, in particular until October 2025, the date on which Microsoft will stop offering support for this operating system which has been with us since 2015 and which has been an important step in terms of design and functionality compared to Windows 7 and Windows 8. From this date, if we still use Windows 10, all the data stored on our PC will be at risk, since the company founded by Bill Gates will stop updating them.
Windows 11 was launched in 2021. Since then, more than 2 years have passed and we can speak, without fear of being wrong, of a mature operating system, where most of the usu al problems of a new version have already been resolved. been resolved, so if we were wondering whether to update or not, the answer is clear. While some users have not wanted to update to avoid these common issues, others have not had the opportunity to do so because they do not meet certain requirements like TPM chip and Secure Boot.
While it is true that we can ignore the basic requirements necessary to install Windows 11, this requires formatting the computer or installing it on a second hard drive (which is not available for many users), more than sufficient reasons to reject this idea. However, there is a much simpler method to try Windows 11 without having to ignore these requirements or format the main disk or use a second hard drive, since we can use a virtual machine.
Install Windows 11 on any unsupported PC
Thanks to a virtual machine we can install Windows on any PC, whether or not it meets Windows requirements and without the need to purchase a new license. The first thing we must keep in mind is that this method is only valid for testing Windows 11 for a while, and not for using it as a standard operating system since, when running through a machine virtual, its operation is slower. Additionally, the version we are going to use expires after 90 days.
The first thing we will do is download an image already created for use with a virtual machine, specifically for VirtualBox, a free application with which we can create Windows and Linux virtual machines. To unload Windows 11 Enterprise in virtual machine format for Windows 11, just visit this link and click on VirtualBox. Afterwards, we download VirtualBox directly from their website and we install them on our computer.
The Windows 11 image for VirtualBox that we downloaded has the .OVA extension. To install it on our PC, with the VirtualBox application open, click on Archive and we select Import a virtualized service.
Next, we go to the directory where the Windows 11 file with the .OVA extension is located and select it. Then the hardware specifications that the virtual machine will use will be displayed and where it is not necessary to modify any value, so click on Following to start the installation.
Once the process is complete, which takes a few minutes, the main screen will be displayed again where the Windows 11 virtual machine that we downloaded is located. To run it, simply select this machine in the left column and at the top, click on To start. When first started, it will take longer to open than usual, because it is being configured for our computer’s hardware.
Once we have started Windows 11 with VirtualBox we can start testing all the functions it offers us. By default, this version of Windows is displayed in English. Fortunately, from the Windows configuration options we can change the interface language to Spanish.
