Intel Kaby Lake and AMD Zen processors to only support Windows 10 and Unix

by Hilbert Hagedoorn on: 09/02/2016 07:12 AM | source: | 98 comment(s)

News hits the web on multiple websites today that it seems likely that both AMD ZEN and Intel's Kaby lake processors are to only support Windows 10 and Unix compatible operating systems. That would be bad news for the guys still on Windows 7 looking forward to an upgrade.

The news hits the web today through PC Gamer. Microsoft already announced this news earlier this year, but we didn't know about ZEN on this one. It makes sense though but yes, Microsoft is planning to only support the new processors on Windows 10 (so this is not an AMD or Intel thing). Basically Microsoft will not support the new processors on older operating systems. While I do believe the standard instruction sets should be supported, the niche multi-media functions etc thus should not be. So it remains to be seen how compatible these processors are going to be.

"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," Microsoft stated in a blog post earlier this year.

"As new silicon generations are introduced, they will require the latest Windows platform at that time for support,” a Microsoft spokeswoman stated. "This enables us to focus on deep integration between Windows and the silicon, while maintaining maximum reliability and compatibility with previous generations of platform and silicon."

So, what happens if you install a Kaby Lake processor in a desktop PC running Windows 7? Good question—nobody knows outside of Microsoft and Intel, and until the CPUs are out in the wild, no one will have the opportunity to try it out. One unnamed source told PCWorld that without support and security updates, his guess is that the experience would be "a bit glitchy." Another surmised that certain apps trying to use features built into the chips could crash. Even if you can get the OS installed, it would likely be a sub-optimal experience at best.

There's not a whole lot Intel and AMD are saying about this. Both chipmakers provided canned responses when asked for thoughts on the subject, with Intel confirming it has no plans on updating Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 drivers for Kaby Lake "per Microsoft's support policy change."

Obviously everything not Microsoft will support the processors like *nix distributions such as ChromeOS, SteamOS, and OS X.

20 pages « < 17 18 19 20

PrMinisterGR
Senior Member

Posts: 7526
Joined: 2014-09-27

#5331164 Posted on: 09/05/2016 03:27 PM

thatguy91
Senior Member

Posts: 6643
Joined: 2010-08-27

#5331168 Posted on: 09/05/2016 03:35 PM

Some people are obsessed by constant upgrading, for me, because i have lots of computers its usually waste of time, i want to upgrade to improve something, not because im forced to do it.. I already paid for Windows 7 licenses, i have almost 10 of them, Microsoft should be at least some honest to make making new drivers, i dont care about new features..
But what is MS doying is bricking system, if you dont paid more...

Microsoft did provide Windows 10 for free for you. No doubt those paid licences were for OEM, in which case installing on a brand new future Kaby Lake or Zen isn't consistent with the licensing arrrangements. Furthermore, Windows 7 and 8.1 never supported Kaby Lake or Zen, so Microsoft are not taking features away from you. In fact, Microsoft were extremely generous from a business point of view in allowing the free upgrade to Windows 10, it's not their fault that you chose not to accept the offer.

At which point should Microsoft stop supported the deprecated, superseded operating systems? Why aren't you complaining that iPhone 6's don't work on iOS 3, or that Android 2.1 isn't supported on the Galaxy S6? You have to consider that doing so is far easier than keeping on supporting Windows 7 and 8.1.

scrapser
Senior Member

Posts: 604
Joined: 2009-12-08

#5331604 Posted on: 09/06/2016 05:03 PM

A couple years ago I made the decision to stick with Win7 and my existing hardware until Microsoft stops supporting it. At that time the support page at Microsoft said support would end in 2022 for Windows 7. But it looks like they are changing the particulars on exactly what that means.

For my purposes I will keep what I have even if I have to stop using this hardware connected to the Internet. I will buy some cheap laptop or something for when I need to go online. My main purpose for having computers is gaming and since the vast majority of new games are boring compared to what gaming used to be, I see no point in spending gobs of money on a fancy new hardware set only to be told what operating system will work and to play mediocre games. This is why I have Win98SE, WinXP and Win7 computers.

20 pages « < 17 18 19 20

Post New Comment

Click here to post a comment for this news story on the message forum.