Microsoft announced that distribution of updates for Windows 7 and 8.1 running on the latest processors, Intel Kaby Lake and AMD Ryzen, is now terminated. It also concerns systems based on ARM architecture, Qualcomm 8996 and later.
The decision does not come as a surprise, as Microsoft announced the move repetitively. Already in January 2016, Microsoft stated in the official blog that new processors would be fully supported only in Windows 10, while support for previous versions of OS would be limited. Microsoft honestly tried to deliver the statement to the public and reposted the article in August 2016.
From words to actions, and rather harsh ones. Systems with new processors simply do not run the scan in the update centre in Windows 7 and 8.1 and receive the error message when the update is attempted manually. Naturally, no updates or even drivers are downloaded. From Microsoft’s point of view, the decision is justified. Windows 7 was released in 2009, Windows 8.1 – 2013. Obviously, none of those systems was developed taking technologies of 2017 into account.
However, through our London laptop repair service, we have been warning the users that Windows 7 is already running on the extended support (mainstream was ceased in 2015), which will end in three years.