Intel Skylake support will be a Windows 10 exclusive: here is why it won’t be as dramatic as some want us to think
Whenever Microsoft releases a statement about end of support for anything, from IE 7, to Windows XP, drama ensues among those who seem to think of these changes are unjustified, or downright harmful to consumers.
Most recently, Microsoft has posted a blog entry, detailing how the company intends to work with Intel, towards “forcing” new hardware to work exclusively with Windows 10, or at least that’s what the newswires wants us to think.
A quick look at the original post by Microsoft gave us an insight into what seems to be yet another wrong assumption, based on hearsay.
First of all, let’s look at the facts: as Microsoft explains in the official Windows blog, “...Windows 7 was designed nearly 10 years ago before any x86/x64 SOCs existed. For Windows 7 to run on any modern silicon, device drivers and firmware need to emulate Windows 7’s expectations for interrupt processing, bus support, and power states- which is challenging for WiFi, graphics, security, and more...”.
Hardware manufacturers cannot be expected to keep releasing legacy drivers for software past a certain age, whether it’s still supported by Microsoft or not. With that said, it will take a while before Microsoft and Intel go through with the move, which will most likely involve future Windows 10 PCs and tablets.
Support for Windows 7 will end January 14th 2020, while, support for Windows 8.1 will stop January 10th 2023.Considering that new laptops, desktops and tablets will likely integrate hardware that might not even work properly with Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, there is very little sense in being concerned with the fact that Microsoft and Intel have chosen to focus on the future of devices, rather than its past.
By such token, Microsoft has released information about a list of approved Skylake systems, that are guaranteed to work with Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, until such time as support will cease for these operating systems.