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Windows 10 Creators Upgrade Cuts Support For Some Intel PCs Early (pcworld.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the end-of-the-road dept.

Windows PCs with Intel's Clover Trail Atom chips will not upgrade to the Windows 10 Creators Update, which could wind up being trouble in the future. PCWorld reports: Owners of some Windows 10 laptops and tablets are crashing into a worrying roadblock when they try to install the Windows 10 Creators Update. Windows Update initially says the notebooks are compatible with the upgrade, but fails to install it after downloading the setup files, instead displaying the following message: "Windows 10 is no longer supported on this PC. Uninstall this app now because it isn't compatible with Windows 10." That sounds ominous, but you don't need to uninstall your existing version of Windows 10, and there's no app to uninstall. Instead, the message means your PC's hardware isn't compatible with the Creators Update.

A recent ZDNet article thrust this issue into the spotlight, but Microsoft laid out details about the error in an April forum post. Microsoft won't let affected hardware install the Creators Update because "Icons and/or text throughout the Windows interface may not appear at all, or may appear as solid color blocks on some devices." Can I install the Windows 10 Creators Update? Nope. But you might be able to in the future, according to the April forum post. "Microsoft is working with our partners to provide compatible drivers for these processors. Until then, Windows Update will prevent devices containing one of the processors listed above from installing the Creators Update." [Devices with these Intel "Clover Trail" processors are impacted: Atom Z2760; Atom Z2520; Atom Z2560; Atom Z2580.]

7 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. low end 32bit only cpus at the amd was all 64 by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    low end 32bit only cpus at the time amd was all 64 for some time.

  2. Sounds like... by The+MAZZTer · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The problem is due to the vendor's failure to provide proper drivers in a timely manner. This sounds like it's a blatant attempt to capitalize on many people's hatred for Windows 10 by blaming Microsoft for Intel's (or Asus'?) problem.

    1. Re:Sounds like... by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1, Insightful

      No Microsoft is stopping Windows from running on old hardware. You can't run Windows 7 on the latest i7 or Xeon chips.

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    2. Re:Sounds like... by unixisc · · Score: 2, Insightful

      But this issue is the opposite - preventing not just the Creators upgrade, but Windows 10 itself from running on certain older CPUs. The mention of 32-bit vs 64-bit support doesn't make sense, since Microsoft made a conscious decision to include 32-bit support for Windows 10, despite the fact that one needs 4GB of RAM minimum to run this OS adequately.

      Microsoft can't have it both ways - try to force everybody to upgrade to Windows 10, but then throw up when people try to do it on computers that were otherwise working perfectly fine for them

    3. Re:Sounds like... by ls671 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Also, "lack of proper driver to display icons and text correctly" doesn't really sound like a serious excuse.

      --
      Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
    4. Re:Sounds like... by Kjella · · Score: 3, Insightful

      That sort of stability an backward compatibility used to be something that Microsoft at least tried at and cared about; the change isn't a flattering one.

      On the application side perhaps, the driver side has never been that way. Microsoft releases a new version of the OS, the manufacturer may or may not update their driver. Which if it was a shitty vendor often did not happen on products more than a few years old because they already have your money and want to sell you the shiny new stuff. But that was okay because you could just stay on your current Windows version and get 5+5 years of support from MS even though the manufacturer dropped the ball after two.

      I thought it was bloody obvious what the consequences of "last version of Windows ever" and "the supported lifetime of the device" were, basically Windows will continually change and the hardware vendor has to keep up. If it doesn't, put it in the junk bin (or install Linux, but last I heard these PowerVR chips had even more terrible Linux support). Did you really think the plan was to continue to give you 10-15 years (manufacturer supporting version N+1, then 5+5 from Microsoft) of useful device life? Oh no, this is planned obsolescence at work.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  3. Still crap by martinX · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Uninstall this app now because it isn't compatible with Windows 10."

    That sounds ominous, but you don't need to uninstall your existing version of Windows 10, and there's no app to uninstall. Instead, the message means your PC's hardware isn't compatible with the Creators Update.

    And that's reason number eleventy billion why Windows is still crap. A simple message that is completely wrong. They can't even get that right.

    --
    When they came for the communists, I said "He's next door. Take him away. Goddam commies."