Last year, Microsoft announced that it would enforce a new support policy for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. Not it looks like the company is going to make good on this launch by enforcing the same. PCs that are powered by the latest Intel, AMD and Qualcomm processors will not receive updates for previously mentioned OS generations.
As noted by Computer World, individuals with the latest AMD and Qualcomm processors are given a notification to let them know that they will no longer receive security updates for Windows 7 and 8.1. "Your PC uses a processor that isn't supported on this version of Windows," it said. "And you won't receive updates."
Another possible notification is a citation of error code 80240037. Either of these will be triggered when an individual tries to obtain updates from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1. However, at this point, it looks as if the case is only true for gadgets that run on the seventh generation processors from Intel (Kaby Lake) and AMD (Bristol Ridge) or the next generation Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chip.
The new policy was announced in early 2016, where Microsoft explained why the choice had to be made. Apparently, the Redmond-based company was having difficulty getting Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 to run on the latest processors. As such, the tech giant decided that only Windows 10 would run on the processors that were of the seventh generation and beyond. Likewise, it was also announced that support for 7 and 8.1 would continue to diminish over time. This is understandable particularly because chip companies will continue to churn out newer and more powerful products.
As Ars Technica reported, Skylake was originally supposed to be included in the policy as well. However, Microsoft eventually related and opted for a provision that only security fixes for Skylake systems running on either Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 would be provided. The others will only be compatible with Windows 10.
