Ever since Microsoft rolled out Windows 10 in summer 2015, their new operating system has been adopted by users in droves, and has been gaining market share at a steady pace month after month.
Actually, there are currently hundreds of millions of computers running the latest version of Windows, and Windows 10 now has more than 25 % of market share according to website netmarketshare.com. But there are still quite a few users running good old Windows 7 (which came out in 2009), and together with Windows 8 and its variants still make up more than 50 % of computer users worldwide.
Those hanging on to earlier versions of Windows could be in for a rude awakening though, as according to InfoWorld (via PC Gamer) Microsoft will now longer be delivering Windows updates to those running an AMD Ryzen or Intel Kaby Lake processor in their PC.
Those who want to run the latest and greatest processors from AMD and Intel might end up having to upgrade to Windows 10 soon.
Those attempting to update their Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 will receive the error “your PC uses a processor that isn’t supported on this version of Windows and you won’t receive updates”, as Microsoft discusses in this knowledge base article.
This obviously will be a cause of concern for those who have spent hundreds on the latest AMD or Intel processors, only to find that they will need to upgrade to Windows 10 as well (something they will no longer be able to do for free). This has led to plenty of vitriol on the Reddit forums, with quite a few users resorting to colourful language to express their dissatisfaction with Microsoft’s new policy, even if the Redmond giant did actually warn people about their intentions more than a year ago.
So those looking to get a new-gen processor for their PC will have to factor in the cost of upgrading to Windows 10 as well, as the hard truth is that upgrading to a newer operating system is often the price of progress, even if some likely wish they could stick with a tried and tested OS like Windows 7 for longer still.
Windows 7,
Windows 10 (Microsoft Corporation)