The Verge has an interesting news item today, Microsoft has announced a change to its support policy that lays out its plans for future updates to its older operating systems, and the new rules mean that future PC owners with next-generation Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm processors will need to use Windows 10.
This new policy doesn't mean that Windows 7 and 8.1 are no longer supported in general. The two operating systems will continue to get updates through January 14th, 2020 and January 10th, 2023, respectively. But that's only if you're using hardware that was contemporaneous with those operating systems.
"Going forward, as new silicon generations are introduced, they will require the latest Windows platform at that time for support," Microsoft notes in a blog post published on Friday. "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."
This new policy doesn't mean that Windows 7 and 8.1 are no longer supported in general. The two operating systems will continue to get updates through January 14th, 2020 and January 10th, 2023, respectively. But that's only if you're using hardware that was contemporaneous with those operating systems.
For current PC owners, the detail to note is that Intel's current, sixth generation processors, known as Skylake, are the first that won't support either of the older versions of Windows. (Intel and Microsoft say that the platform and Windows 10 were designed for each other.) Microsoft is phasing in the policy now.
PC users can use WSUS offline as a workaround. Still, those wishing to upgrade to newers CPUs will now also have to think about the cost of upgrading their operating systems.
"Your PC uses a processor that isn’t supported on this version of Windows" error when you scan or download Windows updates
Symptoms
- When you try to scan or download updates through Windows Update, you receive the following error message:
- Unsupported Hardware
- Your PC uses a processor that isn’t supported on this version of Windows and you won’t receive updates.
- Additionally, you may see an error message on the Windows Update window that resembles the following:
- Windows could not search for new updates
- An error occurred while checking for new updates for your computer.
- Error(s) found:
- Code 80240037 Windows Update encountered an unknown error.
Cause
This error occurs because new processor generations require the latest Windows version for support. For example, Windows 10 is the only Windows version that is supported on the following processor generations:
- Intel seventh (7th)-generation processors
- AMD “Bristol Ridge”
- Qualcomm “8996"
Because of how this support policy is implemented, Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 devices that have a seventh generation or a later generation processor may no longer be able to scan or download updates through Windows Update or Microsoft Update.
We recommend that you upgrade Windows 8.1-based and Window 7-based computers to Windows 10 if those computers have a processor that is from any of the following generations:
- Intel seventh (7th)-generation "Intel Core" processor or a later generation
- AMD seventh (7th)-generation (“Bristol Ridge") processor or a later generation
- Qualcomm “8996" processor or a later generation
