Personally, I am disappointed that my i7-7700K is not good enough for Win 11 because I really wanted to use WSL 2 with Linux GUI support.

However, I can think of at least two reasons for not supporting older CPUs.

1) MSF may want to please their partners (Dell, Lenovo, etc.) by boosting their sales. I don't know how valid it is now given the current chip shortage, though.

2) For the longest time, MSF supported legacy hardware, which IFAIK pretty severely held back Windows development. Dropping this requirement may help make Windows a more modern and more competitive OS.

On the bright side, Win 10 will still be getting feature updates and thanks to its age likely has fewer functional bugs and security issues.

I was motivated by wsl and gui as well. In particular, not needing an x server for applications over ssh.

I think I'm going to mull over staying with my linux desktop as my main os. I dual boot linux and ms at the moment.

I think they want to get rid from older hardware thus making the OS more light without need to include a lot of old drivers stuff. So maybe it's a good sign. You can always use Ubuntu with your old hardware.

I've been working hard to simplify my digital life. I thought Win11 may mean leaving dual booting Ubuntu/Win behind. I'm just not so sure I want to invest in an eco system which will cut off decent hardware. I haven't quite decided yet.