17 R5, not validated for Windows 11

My thinking is that if the system passes the PC Health Check and the update states that you meet the requirements, then you can safely install Windows 11 and it will work fine. The fly in the ointment is that Dell will not offer tech support unless you reinstall Windows 10. This system has not and will not be tested for Dell compatibility for Windows 11. Now driver wise most if not all Windows 10 drivers should work. After all Windows 11 was designed on top of Windows 10. In my case my MB is MSI and the drivers they released for Windows 11 are exactly the same drivers as they released for Windows 10. Remember that you have 10 days (video here) after installing Windows 11 to decide to roll back to Windows 10.

Hello JOcean! Thank you for your response! My device meets all requirements & PC health check doesn't report any issues!! My query is, why has 17R5 been excluded from tech support for Windows 11? What is it about this particular model that doesn't warrant inclusion of tech support? My device is under warranty until 2023. If an issue were to arise & require tech support not having Windows 10 would make things complicated!

I may try to install Windows 11 on an external drive and see how far I can get.

I know I have one device that won't have a driver under Windows 11 - my external ASUS Xonar U5 sound card, though it may still work with Microsoft's default sound driver.

I've participated in Windows beta tests (prior to Windows 11) and have been able to run before the vendor officially supports the OS.

Alienware (Dell) uses 3rd party parts - and those vendors (Intel, nVidia, ...) probably already have Windows 11 drivers included with Windows 11, Windows Update or from the vendor's website.

As far as I can tell, from a driver standpoint, the primary issue will be the BIOS - if any changes are required to fully support Windows 11, Alienware probably won't invest the effort to update the 17R5 BIOS.  And, one driver that might be a problem is the Intel Graphics driver, since Alienware appears to have made some changes to that driver to support how the Intel Graphics co-exists with the nVidia graphics.

Otherwise, everything else appears to be standard drivers - such as the Killer Networking software.

Of course, there could be issues with the Alienware/Dell apps - On-Screen Display, Alienware Command Center, SupportAssist, OS Recovery, ...  Those apps might even refuse to install on Windows 11 or may not work completely.

And even if we can get Windows 11 to work now - there's a possibility some future change in either Windows 11 or in the Alienware/Dell software/drivers/BIOS could cause issues under Windows 11.

It's extremely disappointing that Alienware/Dell has decided not to support Windows 11 on our 17R5 and 15R4.  Those systems were Alienware's best laptops 3 years ago - and we purchased 5 year Premium Support Plus plans.  

As mentioned above, if PC Health Check indicates our systems can run Windows 11 and Microsoft's website lists our CPU/chipsets on the supported processor list - then Alienware/Dell should provide support for Windows 11.

Perhaps they still plan to provide support, and they started with certifying the newer systems first, and could still certify our systems.

The only reason I can think of, and it purely a guess having no inside knowledge, is that systems that are in the 3 years old range have been excluded. Other than that I have no idea.

I agree, that there is no logical reason to exclude a device that was more expensive than lesser 8th gen systems at the time these were new, and the selling point was the full support of our systems. My 17r5 upgraded to Win11 as smooth as butter and been running with 11 for months now at 24/7. I myself and a tech, and find no real reason other than lazy reasons. If my PC is inferior to lesser similar ones sold than someone owes us a refund, then?

  I paid 3 times that of other lesser pc's for my Alienware products only to find that it appears to be lesser than the cheaper costing ones. I have many Alienware pc's which are 6th and 7th gen and understand that they will not work as many of my other 6th and 7th gen pc's, and purchased this 17r5 because it was 8th gen and Win 11 ready, and my love for Dell and Alienware being far more superior to other systems was a sure bet, but I never imagined that Dell/Alienware would pull such a cheap stunt as this.

  Well I, for one, can tell you that it works flawlessly with Win11, and I don't care about losing some support that does not exist anyway, I can fix my own self, and will cease recommending AW anymore for support reasons. 

Welcome to this free user to user Alienware laptop discussion forum. This is not Dell Support. 

Please visit Warranty and Service Extension - Dell Community and it will say for Alienware 17 R5 laptop "Your device has reached the end of service life and can no longer be renewed, upgraded, or extended." So Dell will not test for or provide Window 11 drivers because Dell will not provide Warranty and Service Extension. There is nothing to stop Alienware 17 R5 having the Windows 11 operating system, especially when Windows Update says your system is ready to get invitation. You do not have to wait to get invitation. Ready for manual install of Windows 11 now? - Dell Community 

If you really want to try win11, just ignore that, download win11 ISO file and update. Everything will be ok! I run win11 on my Alienware 17 R4 and it is amazing.

Per my experience with windows 10 (Last major update from Microsoft) Dell released drivers for selected PC/Notebooks only. But as the time passed, Dell started rolling out drivers for older device, so I am assuming they may have some inside plans. 

Yes you should upgrade to windows 11, do not attempt a clean install,. Rather let windows update do that update for you. Cause this allows you to rollback to windows 10 for 10 days. 

I updated to windows 11 because my 17 R5 said it was compatible. It about took my computer out. I didn't realize I could go back to Windows 10 until it was too late. I spent 2 months with Dell Alienware Tech support trying to fix it. I sent it in twice and they replaced parts because it MAY fix it. I payed for support and the parts. Hours and Hours on the phone. Then, I found out that it was not supported. I was never told that a single time from tech support. They couldn't figure out why Windows 11 would do that. It was so frustrating. I would like to know how to make it Windows 11 compatible. What is not compatible? Can I updgrade or replace the item that makes it incompatible?