Microsoft wants all computer manufacturers with Windows 11 pre-installed to use SSD drives

Do you still use your HDD as the primary boot drive for your PC? Most people these days prefer to use a much faster SSD as the main drive, booting the operating system, even Microsoft is said to want to get rid of the HDD as the boot drive altogether.

According to market analysis company Trendfocus, Microsoft is pushing PC manufacturers with Windows 11 pre-installed to switch to SSDs, if they still use HDDs as primary storage devices. Microsoft also set a deadline for companies to be 2023.

It is not clear why Microsoft made this request. Among the minimum specifications for installing Windows 11, there are no special requirements for an SSD, just that a PC running this operating system needs a storage device of 64GB or larger. However, this could change next year when the transition deadline comes.

Maybe Microsoft just wants to switch to SSDs so that PCs get the best performance out of Windows 11. There are also optional features on Windows 11 that require an SSD, such as the DirectStorage API. This feature creates a more efficient link between the NVMe SSD (both PCIe 3.0 and PCIe 4.0) and the GPU, allowing games to directly access the resources on the storage drive.

Despite the many benefits, making SSDs the primary storage device in PCs will affect the cost of low-cost PCs, especially pre-assembled desktop models.

Trendfocus VP John Chen says OEMs are trying to get Microsoft's deadline pushed back to 2024, but we're looking to a future where every PC with Windows 11 pre-installed will have a drive. SSDs.

Isabella Humphrey

Update 15 June 2022