Microsoft has announced changes to its support policy for older operating systems (Windows 7,8 and 8.1). The new modifications mean that future processor architectures from Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm will necessarily need to run on Windows 10.
“Going forward, as new silicon generations are introduced, they will require the latest Windows platform at that time for support,” Microsoft noted in a blog post.
The OS maker and its partners will not be putting forth the necessary effort to make the new PCs compatible with older versions of Microsoft’s Windows operating system. At best, the former operating systems might be able to run on the new PCs, but no updates will be available, and Microsoft will offer no technical support for them. At worst, they may malfunction or refuse to be installed altogether.
This is a change from what consumers have been exposed to. It is usually the case that the PC hardware(specifically the processor architecture) of new designs can accommodate all the older versions of the Windows operating system.
The policy change will start taking effect with Intel’s 6th-generation Skylake chips. Most individual consumers are always ready to change to a new and better operating system. The same cannot be said about business users.A considerable number of business users who buy new computers may want or need to operate on older versions of Windows because of legacy applications,peripheral compatibility, company policies, and others.
Many businesses have been rushing towards Windows 10 and trying to fix issues that arise with the switch, but they mayrequire more time to do this. Microsoft is aware of this problem, and in a bid to accommodate the businesses, it has moved to maintain a limited list of approved PCs on the Skylake processor that are compatible with Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 and whose updates and support will continue, albeit for only 18months. Support for these new processors to run older versions of Windows will cease on July 17, 2017.
It should be noted, however, that the new policy does not mean that Windows 7 and 8 will not be supported. All earlier versions of CPU architectures that supported Windows 7 and 8 will continue to do so, and users will be able to receive updates and support from Microsoft.However, all updates and support for Windows 7 and Windows 8 will cease on January 14, 2020, and January 10, 2023 respectively.
The move to make new PCs run only on Windows 10 is beneficial both to Microsoft and its partners. Its partners no longer have to develop as many costly hardware and software updates for the earlier versions of Windows. For Microsoft, the decision helps them push for adoption of Windows 10, which the company sees as a final version of Windows. Microsoft also insists that this move will provide a better computing experience for its customers, as Windows 7 and 8 were not built to take advantage of new capabilities in the recently launched PCs.
In summary, what Microsoft is telling consumers is that Windows 10 will run on anything (older, current, and future PCs) but Windows 7 and 8 will not run on newer PC models, so if you are still in love with Windows 7 or 8 (or some die-hard fan of XP) don’t buy a new PC.
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