There's some bad news for users of Windows operating systems of the Windows 7 and 8 variety that might just push them into upgrading. It seems AMD has now decided that the Ryzen CPU will only support Windows 10.
"To achieve the highest confidence in the performance of our AMD Ryzen desktop processors (formerly codenamed 'Summit Ridge'), AMD validated them across two different OS generations, Windows 7 and 10," said AMD to PCWorld. "However, only support and drivers for Windows 10 will be provided in AMD Ryzen desktop processor production parts."
The Ryzen was tried on Windows 7 where it ended up booting up and running okay. However, a few functions may not properly work well. In order for AMD and its users to take advantage of the latest technologies, official support for old generation of operating systems like Windows 7 and 8 had to be abandoned. Ryzen should still be compatible with the older operating systems but users should not expect to get the best performance out of it. Features like automatic overclocking and precise voltage control may not be accessible.
This lines up with what Microsoft was saying last August that as new silicon generations continue to roll out, they will require whatever the latest Windows platform that's available at that time for support. This is so Microsoft can focus on "deep integration" between Windows and the silicon, as the company maintains maximum reliability and compatibility with previous generations of platform and silicon.
The Chief Executive Officer of AMD, Lisa Su, was able to confirm that the new Ryzen processor will be available very soon in early March during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call. The desktop processor is expected to be out on or before March 3, 2017. It was reported that the release date for Ryzen will take place during AMD's session which is called Optimizing for Ryzen CPU for the Game Developers Conference.
