[dayglored]

> Due to the swiss cheese nature of the pre-Windows 10 kernel, Intel decided to do away with legacy support.

I find that statement astonishing, rarestia. I respect your opinion on such matters, given your background, so it's not that I disbelieve you, but rather:

EVERY release of the NT kernel since 5.1 XP SP2 has been touted as "The Most Secure Windows Ever". Every one said it was important to upgrade because of security, implying the older kernels were swiss cheese.

• NT 6 Vista was supposed to close the holes in XP SP2, what with UAC and so forth, and make it more secure.
• NT 6.1 Win7 was supposed to close the holes in Vista and make it more secure.
• NT 6.2 Win8 was supposed to close the holes in Win7 and make it more secure. It also gave us the Metro UI.
• NT 6.3 Win8.1 was supposed to close the holes in Win8 and make it more secure. Its UI was somewhat less awful than Win8.
• NT 6.4 Win10 was supposed to ... integrate all sorts of devices into one ecosystem. Oh, and now we learn that it is supposed to close the holes in Win8.1 and make it more secure.

Credibility is lacking here. Why in the world should we believe this EXCUSE about "everything up to now has been swiss cheese, but really, this is the one that closes the holes"?

My feeling is that Microsoft and Intel collaborated on the CPU enhancements (which I do not doubt are significant and legit) in a way that would allow Microsoft to now pull the rug out from under their PRIOR PROMISES OF SUPPORT UNTIL 2020 AND 2023.

If this story about Kaby Lake et al were true, then Microsoft would REQUIRE THOSE CPUS for running Win10. In other words, they would not permit Win10 to run on old hardware that DID NOT take advantage of the new CPU enhancements.

Sorry, it doesn't wash. Nothing personal, rarestia, but I think you've bought the official company line, and I just don't see it the same way.

As a system admin for a software company whose products have existed for two decades, now on a dozen different platforms, I have perhaps a different perspective on the value of compatibility and support.

[dayglored]

> Due to the swiss cheese nature of the pre-Windows 10 kernel, Intel decided to do away with legacy support.

Actually I'd like to ask if you're sure you meant "Intel" and not "Microsoft".

Did you really mean to say that the latest Intel CPU architectures no longer have the registers, instructions, and other features that would be required for Win7 and Win8.1 to run on them? I find that hard-to-impossible to believe, since the entire software base of the past two decades would become un-runnable on the new CPUs.

So, did you mean "Microsoft", not "Intel"?

Likewise, I find it hard-to-impossible to believe that Microsoft, arguably the leading and most experienced software maker in the entire world for the past 30+ years, has lost their ability to do conditional compilation. Because that's all that's required to produce security patches for Win7 and Win8.1, on a new CPU architecture, until their promised end-of-life dates.

If you disagree, I'm certainly willing to be enlightened.