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Microsoft Windows 7 or 8.1 users on Intel Kaby Lake or AMD Ryzen CPUs will not be able to download Windows updates.
Microsoft announced some time ago that new silicon as the company called it back then would not be officially supported on Windows 7 or 8.1.
This meant basically that only Windows 10 would support Intel's, AMD's and Qualcomm's new processors, while Windows 7 or 8.1 would not.
This does not mean that Windows 7 or 8.1 won't install on machines running these new processors, but that Microsoft (and the manufacturer) won't offer any form of support for those devices.
A new support page on the Microsoft website suggests that users who run an unsupported processor on an older version of Windows -- read Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 -- won't be able to scan for or download Windows updates anymore.
Users will get the following error message when they run the scan:
Unsupported Hardware
Your PC uses a processor that isn't supported on this version of Windows and you won't receive updates.
It looks like I'll be moving to BSD or Linux sooner than I planned.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 19 2017, @01:20AM (4 children)
With all of the poison pills shoved into W7 and the telemetry updates, you should be using offline patching tools anyway. BTW, those still work.
The microcode drivers are a bigger issue. I think there are some working ones for intel but not sure about AMD despite the lack of "official" support.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Chromium_One on Sunday March 19 2017, @06:24AM (3 children)
Good news for corporate users also - looks like WSUS should be fine as well - https://www.ghacks.net/2017/03/17/microsoft-blocks-updates-for-new-cpus-on-windows-7-and-8-1/#comment-4190380 [ghacks.net]
Still, glad I already quit dealing with Microsoft for personal use.
Generating slipstreamed custom installs for newer hardware support is an annoyance.
Maintaining a monthly updated list of pre-install patches needed to allow first Windows Update run to complete in less than 24 hours was absurd.
Getting into arms race with MS over spyware installs in the base OS was a goddamned farce.
The license agreement saying "We can and will look at anything on your computer or visible on your network for any reason we see fit" is fucking Kafkaesque.
Fuck you, Microsoft. Fuck you right in your stupid goat-ass. Keep working at getting users to migrate away.
When you live in a sick society, everything you do is wrong.
(Score: 2) by jasassin on Sunday March 19 2017, @11:59AM
I wanted to mod you kick ass Tenacious D awesome! But, I had to give an insightful.
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday March 20 2017, @08:06AM (1 child)
"We can and will look at anything on your computer or visible on your network for any reason we see fit"
It only recently crossed my mind: If there are fully updated Windows machines on my network, how much can Microsoft deduce about my Linux machines? Anything I make visible is shared with Microsoft, sure, but are they able to deduce anything else? Microsoft has the resources and the skill to really give my boxes a working over, if they decide to do so. Presuming that I could keep Microsoft out of my machines is akin to presuming that I can keep the NSA out. They are already inside my network, after all.
(Score: 2) by Chromium_One on Monday March 20 2017, @10:39AM
Most people's networks are crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. If you assume a hostile machine inside your security perimeter, ask what resources are open to casual inspection. Got an open file share with guest access? Homegroups count! Got a networked printer/scanner that keeps a document cache? Use your imagination from there.
Now then, before putting on the tinfoil hat, what MS is actually *likely* to do with this all-access pass they're granting themselves?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/06/30/windows_10_wi_fi_sense/ [theregister.co.uk]
(at one point "accidentally" set on by default - potentially a massive security issue for some users)
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2016/05/microsoft-disables-wi-fi-sense-on-windows-10/ [krebsonsecurity.com]
(discontinuing wifi sense took entirely too long)
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/11/26/microsoft_renamed_data_slurper_reinserted_windows_10/ [theregister.co.uk]
(Hey, with this data you've got a very good start on social graph for your users. Easily monetized, and oh yes they're using it)
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/08/03/windows_10_privacy_defaults/ [theregister.co.uk]
(and here's where I said "What the fuck?" this is only part of the license language that I had some issues with. It has since been modified at least twice, but ... no longer my problem, at least for now.)
That license language makes any software it covers unusable when situations of client/attorney confidentiality come up. Period. There may also be issues with HIPAA or other confidentiality laws.
Even if later edits to the license terms ease up a bit ... and even if one believes that MS will always act in a benign fashion with their data collection at all times, keep in mind that regular diagnostic data [crash dumps, usage statistics collection, performance metrics, etc.] can include random memory/file dumps, which puts us back to being unsuitable in cases where data confidentiality comes into play.
Take all of the above, grab your tinfoil hat off the rack and ... it's easy to start getting freaked out. Microsoft's historical abuses of their position are legion and legendary. If you really want the list, start with the Halloween documents and get back to me if you want more.
Let me say it again, fuck them sideways with rusty railroad spike.
When you live in a sick society, everything you do is wrong.