But the manner in which the change in policy is being introduced is what leaves the worst taste in my mouth.
Microsoft argues that the new processors include new capabilities and hardware that makes compatibility with the older operating systems difficult or undesirable. There are elements of truth to this; both Ryzen and Skylake made some important changes to features, such as processor power management, and on some level I can accept that Microsoft may not fully support these capabilities on older operating systems. Windows 7 also has no built-in support for USB 3 and NVMe, which can make the mere act of installing it onto a modern system a little tricky.
Dropping support for Windows 7 is also arguably consistent with Microsoft’s support policy. Windows 7 has been in extended support since January 2015. Products in extended support are due to receive security updates, but no new functional or other improvements will arrive. Limiting support for processors that were introduced after this time does not seem entirely unreasonable.
But Windows 8.1 is a different story. Windows 8.1 is still in its mainstream support period, during which it should receive not just security fixes, but also functional improvements. Unlike Windows 7, Windows 8.1 already includes native support for USB 3 and NVMe, so the installation headaches that can occur with the old operating system are avoided. Refusing to support the latest processors in an operating system that’s still fully supported feels distasteful. It feels like something of a bait-and-switch—Microsoft’s “mainstream support” promise apparently has no real meaning.
Windows 8.1 is only in mainstream support for about another year. It does not seem tremendously burdensome for the company to have extended its new processor support to Windows 8.1 until that mainstream support period ended. Windows 8.1 users had a reasonable expectation that their operating system would be fully supported for the duration of the five-year mainstream support period. In making this change, Microsoft fails to live up to its end of the bargain.
It really won’t be too long before the only Windows version that’s in mainstream support is Windows 10. I think that Microsoft should have waited until that moment before imposing this new policy.