Windows 11 has now been out 2.5 years and the question about compatibility with Windows 10 drivers lingers. Surprisingly, Windows 10 drivers have worked 99% seamlessly on Windows 11 in all of our tests. The Windows 11 kernel architecture is not that different to its predecessor, so compatibility is high. That doesn't mean that future updates won't change this.
Microsoft designed Windows 11 as an evolution of its predecessor rather than a complete overhaul, so while visually different underlying architecture ensures that most drivers coded for Windows 10 find compatibility in Windows 11. There is only one catch, Windows 11 only supports x64 (64-bit) architecture meaning Windows 10 32-bit drivers incompatible.
While Windows 10 drivers generally work on Windows 11, users should resort to them only when dedicated Windows 11 drivers are unavailable. Using outdated drivers can limit the performance potential of new features and optimizations specific to Windows 11 especially with WifI 7 technology as Windows 10 has limited. Also Relying on Windows 10 drivers might over time introduce compatibility issues in the long run as the operating system evolves.
Drivers for Windows 11 arm64 and Windows 10 arm64 are compatible, but support is very limited for current devices and almost non existent for older devices.
