Microsoft really wants you to run Windows 10. So while the company continues to offer security updates and bug fixes for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 (and Windows Vista for a few more weeks), the company announced last year that it would not support those operating systems for devices with the latest Intel and AMD chips.
Up until now that’s basically just meant that if you were running Windows 8.1 or earlier on a PC with an Intel Kaby Lake or AMD Bristol Ridge or Ryzen processor you wouldn’t get officially supported drivers.
But now Microsoft is going a step further: Windows Update won’t work on Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 computers with the most recent Intel or AMD chips.
Specifically, users attempting to download updates through Windows Update may get a message that says:
Unsupported Hardware
Your PC uses a processor that isn’t supported on this version of Windows and you won’t receive updates.
Microsoft says that’s because only it will only support the latest Intel and AMD chips for Windows 10. And that probably won’t be an issue for most users, since most people upgrade their CPU and operating system at the same time: when they buy a new computer.
But folks who may build their own computers and prefer Windows 7 to Windows 10 for one reason or another are now in a position where they have to choose between using an older processor or giving up on automatic updates.
Or you could just skip Windows altogether and switch to Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, or another GNU/Linux operating system.
via Hacker News
