Microsoft updates support policy: New CPUs will require Windows 10

Microsoft ^ | 01/15/16 | Ed Bott

[Enlightened1]

In a change to its longstanding support policy, Microsoft says PCs based on new CPU architectures, including Intel's Skylake chips, will require Windows 10. A list of preferred systems will support older Windows versions on new hardware, but only for 18 months.

Enterprise customers are still the bulwark of Microsoft's Windows business, in both the client and server segments.

Historically, those customers have also been among the most conservative, lagging years behind the latest releases of an operating system release. Those practices have been encouraged by Microsoft's support lifecycle, which offers a generous ten years of support for each Windows release.

Effective today, that policy is changing in a subtle but significant way, with the addition of new hardware requirements for support of pre-Windows 10 releases. The company's also publishing a preferred list of systems that will receive special attention for updates and support.

Yes, Windows 7 (currently in the Extended support phase) will continue to receive updates until January 14, 2020, and Windows 8.1 will be supported until January 10, 2023. But in a series of "clarifications" to its support policy today, the company announced that support for those older Windows versions will be available only for "previous generations of silicon."

Going forward, as new silicon generations are introduced, they will require the latest Windows platform at that time for support... Windows 10 will be the only supported Windows platform on Intel's upcoming "Kaby Lake" silicon, Qualcomm's upcoming "8996" silicon, and AMD's upcoming "Bristol Ridge" silicon.

The policy will be phased in beginning with systems based on Intel's new 6th-generation CPUs (code-named Skylake), which debuted a few months ago. New consumer-based Skylake devices must run Windows 10 to be supported.

[Enlightened1]

Microsoft wants to force you into their Cyber Ghetto in order to control everyone.

I bet A LOT of people will be moving off their platform.

[markomalley]

Enterprise admins aren't in a hurry to adopt the newest OS because they don't care to be beta-testers for software companies.

If Windoze 10 was such a wonderful thing, M$ wouldn't feel a need to force it.

THE LAST Windows update you will need.

[Scutter]

You guys crack me up. They don’t want to upgrade Windows versions because they’re afraid of change (horror or horrors, the icons have changed!!!), so your suggestion is that they change to an entirely different platform.

[Politicalkiddo]

“If Windoze 10 was such a wonderful thing, M$ wouldn’t feel a need to force it.”

Just like liberal policies.

[DaxtonBrown]

I’m in the final stages of moving everything I have to Fedora 23.

With Libreffice, Gimp, Apache Server, Netbeans, Java 8, MariaDB, Apache web server, PhP, Blender, Firefox, etc. I’m saving a buttload of money. The operating system is now pretty slick and only marginally nerdy. It also runs fast enough that I’ve resuscitated some older systems.

I feel sorry for my CPA brother who has accounting software like Turbotax. I just don’t need Microsoft anymore. Unless they make it so you can’t run anything but Windoze on CPUs.

[Darksheare]

Watch AMD snicker at them and put out an advert about not needing a restrictive OS for their kit.

[Bobalu]

I have several old HP, off-lease business machines.

All Win7.

This old shit actually works well, it’s dirt cheap and it’s a match for my old crusty ass...lol

If I have to I can move everything to Linux... So I’m all set...bring it on.

Hell, if I absolutely had to I could do it all with a few Raspberry Pi’s.

I wish the Upgrade to Win10 thingie would leave me alone tho....pain in the ass.. :-/

[markomalley]

so your suggestion is that they change to an entirely different platform.

Note the bolded word above. Suggestion, not demand.

Slightly different marketing model.

[trenton1776]

this is strange since I just built a skylake (I7-6700 on Z170 motherboard) system two weeks ago for a client. He wanted win7 because it was required for some expensive device he was controlling with it. Everything works great.

[AbolishCSEU]

We’re starting to use raspberry pi in our office. Gotta learn Python.

[Wildcat Stevens]

I recently got a new laptop with Windows 8.1, which sucks (crashes, hardware incompatibility, etc). My last two had 7, which worked great. Now I’m constantly getting messages to do the free Windows 10 update and wondering about the cons-whether it could be worse than 8? What are the downsides to 10?

[Montana_Sam]

Neighbor bought a little Dell desktop box with Win10 on it. Went over and got her wireless router working with it and got her email and stuff setup. Then she calls and said she’d bought a little printer, and her son couldn’t hook it up, so wanted me to do it. When all was said and done, installing the Win10 mandatory updates, getting the right drivers, compatibility settings, administrative rights, rebooting half a dozen times, etc., it was a couple of hours of screwing around. I think I’ll be doing a lot less support for my neighbors. That was too painful for such a minor thing.

[jpsb]

What do you use instead of Turbotax?

[DaveA37]

If Microsoft would stop trying to create more worthless crap that even the geeks can’t figure out, perhaps they would actually sell more products. Simply stated, make one good hammer and start building better saws, we have buildings to build.

[Montana_Sam]

You guys crack me up...

Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 are not great for backward compatibility with hardware, particularly printers and business scanners. Where possible, Windows 7 is still the best bet. But most homeowners and small businesses could easily switch to Linux and have simpler, faster, essentially free, systems using their old hardware. OpenOffice or Libre Office has more than enough power to run most businesses. Not sure why dumping money down Microsoft bottomless pit is a good thing.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Yes, but what will they be able to move *to*?

In effect, Exxon creates a “special”, much more expensive gasoline, that has an extra ingredient that does nothing, then persuades the car makers to only make cars that will run on gasoline that contains this ingredient.

The US government should immediately intervene to prevent this restraint of trade. Since Obama is ineffectual, however, it will likely take a lawsuit by a bunch of corporations against Microsoft, Intel, and AMD.

[Enlightened1]

Linux, Apple, Google and Amazon for now.

[paladinan]

A kind fellow on the internet steered me to this:

http://blog.ultimateoutsider.com/2015/08/using-gwx-stopper-to-permanently-remove.html

It's a small program (available with installer, or as stand-alone executable) to wipe out all of the Windows 10 "nag-ware"...

[Little Pig]

Nobody said it wouldn’t work, just that going forward, Skylake-based systems running anything other than 10 won’t be able to update or get other support.

More generally, the article seems to be mixing issues to stir up FUD. It suggests that the new policy is intended to push Enterprise customers to upgrade, and yet later in the article it says only consumer-based systems have to run 10. Enterprise customers don’t generally buy “consumer” systems; they buy from the big OEM marques.

[Pearls Before Swine]

I know I’m in the minority here, but I think W10 is great, especially on hardware that can handle it (think of 8 GB memory as a comfortable minimum).

Of course it defaults to vacuuming information about you, but there are many articles out there about what privacy settings to change, and they are easy to find in the operating system.

I bought a computer that came with 8.1 last summer, knowing that 10 was on the way. I didn’t like the interface on 8.1, but it was stable. 10 fixes the interface problem.