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Windows 7/8.1 Embedded Skylake users will need Windows 10 in 2017

A few months back, Microsoft revealed that those using Intel's latest Skylake processors on Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 Home or Pro editions would need to upgrade to Windows 10 in 2017 in order to keep support for their CPU. Now, that same policy is being applied to Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 Embedded, which could have an effect on businesses rather than the average OS user.

In a statement explaining the new policy, Microsoft said: “Through July 17, 2017, Skylake devices running Windows Embedded 7, 8 and 8.1 will be supported according to the lifecycle support policy for those products. During the 18-month support period, these systems should be upgraded to Windows 10 to continue receiving support after the period ends.”

Windows-10

“After July 2017, the most critical security updates will be addressed for these configurations, and will be released if the update does not risk the reliability or compatibility of the Windows Embedded 7/8/8.1 platform on other devices.”

Embedded Windows runs on many devices, like those used in enterprise or portable devices used in retail, manufacturing and delivery companies. This policy won't apply to servers, which as The Inquirer points out will be supported for another five years. Following that, there will be an additional five years of ‘extended support' for critical updates.

KitGuru Says: Microsoft is aggressively pushing Windows 10, to the point that if you use an up to date CPU you won't even have a choice when it comes to which version of Windows you want. How many of you currently use Skylake paired with an older version of Windows? 

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7 comments

  1. bloody hell Microsoft just leave users alone why upgrade to something when what you have works perfectly fine its like replacing your phone when the new version comes out when there is no need to…..damn

  2. damn it …..

  3. It is kind of funny because people will be like oh no my PC will not work after that date. Reality check yes it will keep working fine because if it was running Windows 7/8/8.1 before the july 2017 date it won’t magically stop working after that date. The only way for it to stop working is if Microsloth puts out a update that rips the skylake CPU support out of the Windows versions in question & if they were to do that they would have 1000’s of law suits on their hands..lol But any CPU’s after skylake will not be fully supported by the Windows versions in question but even then unless Microsoft puts up a road block that says something like this CPU is not supported please update to Windows 10 now. In the past with OS’s like Windows 98se.ME,Windows XP & even Vista they all work with a lot newer CPU’s and have not been updated CPU code wise to support the new features but somehow they all work fine but they do not support some of the new features of the more up to date CPU’s but hey if your running a old OS I some how think your not really caring about all the new whistles & bells that the new CPU’s but you just want the extra speed they will offer you. Like I said your PC will not stop working unless MS tries to block the new CPU’s in the older OS’s I would think they would new Intel to hard code something into the CPU as well to block it from running on the older OS’s. Which would be very under handed tactics by both companies & would most likely get them into hot water with law suits…just my 12 cents on this

  4. Yeah, don’t think this means squat. The chips will still work just fine on older versions. They just want to scare people into an upgrade to Windows Storefront *previously known as windows 10*

    Not a big deal considering we have to go to Win 10 eventually anyways for dx12 support, so not much use for anyone to be outraged here.

    I do wonder, how long before microsoft puts guns to our heads and says “BUY STUFF ON OUR STORE>>>> NOW!!!!” but right now we are still safe =D

    *windows has detected that you haven’t purchased anything on the Microsoft storefront in at least 15 days. You computer will now be locked until you watch a 15 minute video about our many fine products!*
    ho ho ho…. I love horror stories.

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  6. I hope they won’t start this kind of policy on desktop pc. I have a lot of older software that do not run correctly on windows newer than 7 and I don’t have money to buy newer licenses (mostly CAD software which costs dozillions of dollars). I have already disabled auto updates to avoid update to 8. If they try to do that I guess bigger companies will do a huge action class suit. I can already imagine some medical companies or banks or any other that can’t change OS because of compatibility with their software, companies which actually upgrade their hardware really often, but stay with older OS for that very reason.

  7. Due to Vulkan API (replaced OpenGL) coming along nicely, Direct X 12 may lose out to Vulkan. Vulkan runs on windows 7 up, linux, mac etc… lots of developers are supporting it as it’s cross-platform meaning less costs for them.