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Microsoft: Only the Latest Version of Windows Will Support New CPU Generations (windows.com)

Posted by Soulskill on from the raise-your-hand-if-you-called-it-in-2011 dept.

Joe_Dragon sends news from Microsoft about how the company will support Windows now and in the future. The company says PCs built with Intel's Skylake chip, and other new architectures in the future, will require the latest version of Windows for support. This doesn't take effect right away; Windows 7 and 8.1 will be supported on older chips until their planned end-of-life dates, in 2020 and 2023 respectively. They'll also be supported on a list of current Skylake devices for the next 18 months. After that, only the latest version of Windows will support integration between the operating system and new CPU features. "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." Microsoft also mentioned that for new supported systems, the company will "ensure all drivers will be on Windows Update with published BIOS/UEFI upgrading tools." The submitter adds, "Putting BIOS/UEFI updates in to the Windows 10 auto- / forced-update system may open Microsoft to paying $600-$1,000+ to replace broken laptops. If Windows tries to update BIOS/UEFI at a bad/risky time (like during power instability in a big storm), it could lead to an update loop or worse."

1 of 458 comments (clear)

  1. Linux is getting much, much worse, too. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    As a long time user of both Windows and Linux, I'm sorry to inform you that Linux has gotten a lot worse lately, too. If you're thinking about switching to Linux, you should reconsider. You've missed the Linux glory days.

    The Linux kernel itself is quite good. It's reliable, efficient, and improving on an ongoing basis.

    But so much above the kernel has been decreasing in quality at an astounding pace.

    All of the major Linux distros have switched to an init system called systemd. It throws away decades of acquired experience and knowledge in favor of an approach that's much closer to what we find on Windows. Understandably, this has caused many problems for many Linux users. Upgrading an existing Linux installation from a pre-systemd version of the distro to a systemd version can often go horribly wrong. Many Debian users found this out first hand. Even if you go with a new installation, it is routine to run into problems that may even prevent your computer from booting. The mailing lists and bug trackers of the major distros are full of unbelievably stupid bugs and problems involving systemd, which we just didn't see with other init systems. It doesn't help that systemd has been continually taking over other unrelated functionality as time goes on. To make this bad situation worse, systemd uses binary logs which are much harder to work with, especially when it comes to troubleshooting a system that isn't booting properly.

    The desktop environment situation is abysmal these days. GNOME 3 is a total disaster. For some reason they focused on making it a touch-oriented UI, although next to nobody actually uses GNOME 3 that way. This, of course, ruined it for desktop users, which make up almost all of its past, current and future user base. GNOME 3 is a shitty mix of iOS, OS X, and GNOME, taking the worst aspects of each. The alternatives aren't much better. XFCE is barely hanging on. KDE is slow and bloated. Unity is awkward. You're generally better off using some ancient window manager!

    It's an equally bad situation when it comes to user applications. LibreOffice is not very good. Firefox has been getting worse and worse with each release, too. GIMP has stagnated really badly.

    There used to be many compelling reasons to use Linux, back in the Windows 9x, XP and even Vista days. Open source software was better then. But that was 10 to 15 years ago. Times have changed, and open source software really sucks these days. As bad as you might find Windows 10, it's likely that you'll find Linux to be much worse. I really hate to have to say that, as a long time user, promoter and contributor to Linux and other open source projects, but it's just the reality today. I hate it, and I'd love to fix it, but it's impossible for a single person, or even a number of people, to undo all of the damage that has been done lately.