Microsoft will not support older Windows versions on upcoming PC Hardware

Yes, you need to read that line twice, let me rewrite it. Microsoft will force Windows 10 on all new PC hardware. The company has changed hardware requirements for supporting older versions of Windows, by only supporting new silicon on Windows 10 moving forward.

Neowin reports this today after carefully reading a company blog;

While consumers are quicker to upgrade their hardware and software, businesses are usually more conservative, and the process can take years, the new Microsoft is not that patient. The company has changed hardware requirements for supporting older versions of Windows, by only supporting new silicon on Windows 10 moving forward.

Compared to Windows 7 PC’s, Skylake when combined with Windows 10, enables up to 30x better graphics and 3x the battery life – with the unmatched security of Credential Guard utilizing silicon supported virtualization.

That being said, Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 will continue to receive updates through January 14, 2020 and January 10, 2023 respectively, and Microsoft is offering to help enterprises in the transition to Windows 10, by creating a list of "specific new Skylake devices we will support to run Windows 7 and Windows 8.1" through July 17, 2017.

Going forward, as new silicon generations are introduced, they will require the latest Windows platform at that time for support. 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. For example, 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.

Even though the PC market is in decline, the PC is still alive and kicking, and remains relevant due to evolving categories and innovative new features, as we've seen at this year's CES and Microsoft's"Windows 10 Devices" event last October.