Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

Windows 7 and 8.1 systems built with the latest CPUs will no longer receive security updates

By

microsoft building tab support into windows 10 upgrade popup
Image used with permission by copyright holder
No operating system lasts forever, as evidenced by Windows Vista reaching the end of its support life cycle just the other day. That’s probably well understood by most computer users, but some might be surprised to learn that even an operating system that’s officially supported can still have its options limited.

Such is the case with Windows 7 and 8.1, which are still receiving either extended or mainstream support from Microsoft and remain popular among Windows users. However, as some people are discovering, if you’re running a machine equipped with a newer CPU, then you’ll want to give more serious consideration to giving them up and finally making the move to Windows 10, as Ars Technica reports.

Recommended Videos

The reason is simple if still slightly hard to swallow for affected users — Microsoft considers the newest Intel and AMD processors to be “designed for the latest version of Windows,” which, of course, means Windows 10. Accordingly, the company announced in January 2016 that Windows 7 and 8.1 would stop receiving updates if they’re running on machines using Intel’s seventh-generation Core processors, also known as Kaby Lake, and AMD’s just-released Ryzen processors. Some systems using sixth-generation Intel Core processors, known as Skylake, also fall under the same policy.

Although Microsoft wasn’t precise on exactly when that policy would go into effect, we now know the answer to that question. As some users are discovering, Windows 7 or 8.1 systems built with Kaby Lake, Skylake, or Ryzen processors are generating pop-ups letting users know that those systems “will miss important security updates.”

The reason for the change is that Microsoft hasn’t verified that Windows 7 and 8.1 support all of the new capabilities of the newest processors, such as recent improvements in power management starting with Ryzen and Skylake processors. In addition, the new processors and their associated chipsets include other components, such as USB Type-C and NVMe, that may not have drivers for older operating systems.

Some original equipment manufacturers have undertaken the process of verifying that Windows 7 and 8.1 will run just fine on their Skylake-based systems, and so that’s why some Skylake systems support those operating systems and some don’t. But otherwise, all of Microsoft’s due diligence with the newest systems has been performed with Windows 10, and so this latest action is basically the company’s way of letting people know that they’ll want to make the upgrade sooner rather than later.

People have various reasons for staying on Windows 7 and 8.1. Larger organizations that have many systems to upgrade have delayed their Windows 10 upgrades due to cost and logistical concerns. Starting now, however, those users won’t have any choice in the matter — it’s upgrade to Windows 10, or risk running into security issues caused by an unpatched operating system.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Mark Coppock
Mark Coppock
Computing Writer
Mark has been a geek since MS-DOS gave way to Windows and the PalmPilot was a thing. He’s translated his love for…
Update your Windows PC now to fix this critical PrintNightmare security flaw
Person sitting and holding Dell XPS 13 laptop on their lap.

You might have heard the news about "PrintNightmare," a vulnerability in the Windows Print Spool service that could leave hackers in control of your PC under certain conditions. After raising concern about it, Microsoft has officially issued a patch that resolves the issue and the company urges all Windows users to install it as soon as possible.

Though unrelated, Microsoft is also aware of a separate issue raised on July 16 relating to the spooler service that is yet to be patched and is working on a separate fix, coming later. This involves local (physical) access to a PC and potentially allowing hackers to install programs and view, change, or delete data via the spooler service.

Read more
Adobe Photoshop now runs natively on Windows on ARM, catching up to Apple’s M1
A person using the Surface Pro X.

Photoshop is now fully compatible with Windows 10 PCs like the Surface Pro X that are powered by ARM-based architecture. Adobe announced the news on a support page, noting that as of May 2021, the software now runs natively on 64-bit Windows 10 ARM devices.

Now that Photoshop runs natively on Windows 10 on ARM devices, there should be some performance gains for these Windows users across the board. It no longer runs under emulation, which had severely limited the speed and efficiency of some process-intensive tasks.

Read more
The next major Windows 10 update is about to launch. Here’s how to get it now
microsoft surface go pro 7 deals amazon best buy fathers day sale 2020 review feature 768x479 c

Microsoft is getting the next update for Windows 10 ready for release. One of the final Windows 10 May 2021 Update test builds is now out for Windows Insider beta testers, meaning the general public could get the release on their PCs in a little as a few weeks.

Although the overall experience could still be improved between now and a final public release, Windows Insiders in the Release Preview channel can choose to install this update now by downloading Windows 10 21H1 Build 19043.928. This build can also be downloaded as an ISO file for a clean installation on any new PC, with the caveat that the computer will be enrolled in the Insider Program.

Read more