Microsoft has confirmed that it has discontinued support for certain models of older PC.
As of right now, the company has only confirmed that it is endings support for a line of PCs that use older Clover Trail processors. However, the company's wording implies that other PCs may lose access to Windows 10 updates as they get older.
"If a hardware partner stops supporting a given device or one of its key components and stops providing driver updates, firmware updates, or fixes, it may mean that device will not be able to properly run a future Windows 10 feature update," a Microsoft spokesperson told the Register.
Those aforementioned devices fell under Intel's end of support policy, meaning that Microsoft will no longer provide content updates for those devices. They will still receive security updates, but they'll not receive any content updates beyond the Anniversary Update.
A Major Shift In Microsoft Policy
This move indicates a major shift in Microsoft's support policy. Before, Microsoft supports its Windows OS for about five years after the initial launch, but this move changes things a bit. Microsoft will continue to support Windows 10, obviously, since it is their current OS, but it is strange that certain PCs might lose support. Traditionally, if a computer could run one version of a Windows OS then it could run an updated version of that OS.
The main reason for this likely has to do with Microsoft's Windows as a service policy which is Microsoft's new way of handling its OS. Previously, Microsoft releases a new version of Windows every few years. The downside to this policy is that it means users run the risk of finding out that their computer will no longer run the latest version of Windows 10. Of course, previous versions of the OS operated on a similar principle where there was always the chance that a user's computer would not be able to run the latest iteration of the Windows OS. However, there is something discouraging about purchasing a product and eventually finding out that a new computer is needed to use it.
On the other hand, this policy also means users will receive new versions of Windows for free as Microsoft continues to update the OS. There's no telling how far this policy will go so we might see a Windows 11 release sometime within the next few years.
