zdnet[.]com/article/windows-11-should-have-been-an-easy-upgrade-microsoft-chose-to-unleash-chaos-on-us-instead/
Ed talks about the hot mess that was Win11's launch -- I had forgotten just how bad it was -- and details how originally Win11's hardware requirements were a suggestion. If I remember correctly there were NO hardware requirements when the 1st beta was released. That didn't last long.