Windows 10 only on new hardware a bad move?
This kind of made me laugh. A LOT of articles are harping on Microsoft for not supporting newer chipsets on anything other than Windows 10. Unfortunately for those jumping on this it is A) not really Microsoft's fault, B) makes perfect sense and C) doesn't affect a majority of their users.
Firstly, as stated, we're talking about supporting hardware. Which really means drivers. And Microsoft doesn't actually write the drivers. The vendor does. Microsoft is basically intentionally taking the blame for something to ease things for their OEM and hardware partners. At the end of the day, if Intel and HP decide to provide drivers for your brand new PC for Windows 7 there is really nothing Microsoft can (or will) do to stop it.
Not to say that there is no benefit to Microsoft. By saying these systems are unsupported by Windows it eliminates them from the list of devices that they need to worry about from a support perspective. It streamlines their operations in other words. One can hope that the quality of the software improves as a result. But it was bound to happen one way or another.
Which leads to my second point. It makes sense. The PC industry is shrinking. Not growing, and not even maintaining. So, realistically, all active members in this market also need to find ways to scale down as well. Through this move, Microsoft helps both itself and its partners do this. Historically, hardware manufacturers would probably have supported at least one Windows version back, even if the hardware was released well after that. By taking it upon themselves to say this sort of thing it provides an out for hardware makers to scale back their support commitments as well. This is just good sense.
Sure, it kicks corporations square in the nads. IT departments certainly don't like being forced into OS upgrades, but that pain is short term. Assuming Microsoft sticks to its mantra that Windows 10 is the last Windows ever. In time there will be no enterprise customers running anything other than Windows 10. In the meantime, lets not pretend that hardware vendors will really stop supplying drivers or that enterprises will stop using older OS's. I'm sorry, but this really won't force anyone to do anything. Even where the impact is biggest, it still won't likely be all that impactful.
And finally, we hit the end of it. Enterprises who might actually care still aren't the majority of Windows users. The average user is a consumer and the average consumer buys and device and sticks with whatever OS it came with and 100% of those devices will ship with Windows 10 pre-installed.
Pull yours heads out of your asses. This move is largely meaningless. Just because it pisses you off personally doesn't mean a damn thing.
Firstly, as stated, we're talking about supporting hardware. Which really means drivers. And Microsoft doesn't actually write the drivers. The vendor does. Microsoft is basically intentionally taking the blame for something to ease things for their OEM and hardware partners. At the end of the day, if Intel and HP decide to provide drivers for your brand new PC for Windows 7 there is really nothing Microsoft can (or will) do to stop it.
Not to say that there is no benefit to Microsoft. By saying these systems are unsupported by Windows it eliminates them from the list of devices that they need to worry about from a support perspective. It streamlines their operations in other words. One can hope that the quality of the software improves as a result. But it was bound to happen one way or another.
Which leads to my second point. It makes sense. The PC industry is shrinking. Not growing, and not even maintaining. So, realistically, all active members in this market also need to find ways to scale down as well. Through this move, Microsoft helps both itself and its partners do this. Historically, hardware manufacturers would probably have supported at least one Windows version back, even if the hardware was released well after that. By taking it upon themselves to say this sort of thing it provides an out for hardware makers to scale back their support commitments as well. This is just good sense.
Sure, it kicks corporations square in the nads. IT departments certainly don't like being forced into OS upgrades, but that pain is short term. Assuming Microsoft sticks to its mantra that Windows 10 is the last Windows ever. In time there will be no enterprise customers running anything other than Windows 10. In the meantime, lets not pretend that hardware vendors will really stop supplying drivers or that enterprises will stop using older OS's. I'm sorry, but this really won't force anyone to do anything. Even where the impact is biggest, it still won't likely be all that impactful.
And finally, we hit the end of it. Enterprises who might actually care still aren't the majority of Windows users. The average user is a consumer and the average consumer buys and device and sticks with whatever OS it came with and 100% of those devices will ship with Windows 10 pre-installed.
Pull yours heads out of your asses. This move is largely meaningless. Just because it pisses you off personally doesn't mean a damn thing.
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