Windows 11 raises the bar for security by requiring hardware that can accelerate the performance of Virtualization-Based Security (VBS).
Windows 11 enables Hypervisor-Enforced Code Integrity (HVCI) by default. HVCI relies heavily on VBS and protects vital system and operating system resources. In addition, HVCI protects security assets such as authenticated user credentials.
Microsoft has worked together with Intel, AMD and Qualcomm to design this new hardware feature:
While Windows 10 already provides HVCI, Windows 11 now requires hardware support to accelerate this. Processors with hardware support provide a 30-40% performance improvements over the software implementation in Windows 10. See this blog article where this is thoroughly tested.