Kaby Lake and Zen Will Purportedly Only Support Windows 10

After many years of stagnation in the CPU market, exciting times are ahead due to AMD producing a brand new architecture which could rival enthusiast Intel products. This competition is long overdue and hopefully, will instigate better prices for consumers with the possibility of enhanced IPC improvements in the future. Unfortunately, it seems Microsoft has been applying pressure both on Intel and AMD to make their new creations only compatible with Windows 10. A Microsoft spokeswoman told PCWorld:

“As new silicon generations are introduced, they will require the latest Windows platform at that time for support,”

“This enables us to focus on deep integration between Windows and the silicon, while maintaining maximum reliability and compatibility with previous generations of platform and silicon.” 

“We are committed to working with Microsoft and our ecosystem partners to help ensure a smooth transition given these changes to Microsoft’s Windows support policy,”

Interestingly, the response from Intel and AMD gave the impression that they had no choice but to implement this strategy. An Intel spokesman said via e-mail:

“No, Intel will not be updating Win 7/8 drivers for 7^th Gen Intel Core per Microsoft’s support policy change,”

On a similar note, an AMD’s  chief technical officer Mark Papermaster added:

“AMD’s processor roadmap is fully aligned with Microsoft’s software strategy,”

If this comes to fruition, it’s an awful situation and restricts the hardware upgrade path for many consumers in an unfair manner. The idea that the hardware is tied to an operating system some people do not want to use is ridiculous and Microsoft deserves criticism for this anti-consumer business plan. They need to realise that many users are content with Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 and simply want to play games using a good operating system with new hardware. Hopefully, this policy is changed because it sets a dangerous precedent. If Microsoft continues with such an aggressive policy, they’re going to lose respect fast.