Microsoft says only Windows 10 will work with new processors

[nubc]

The Verge: Microsoft says new processors will only work with Windows 10
http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/16/10780 ... rs-skylake

The policy change not only makes Microsoft's hardware partners happy — they no longer are on the hook to develop as many costly software updates for past versions of Windows — but it also helps Microsoft push adoption of Windows 10. The company sees the operating system as the "final" version of Windows; it's now a service, not a product, and this change better reflects that. There's only one current version of Windows, and while Microsoft will fullfill its legacy hardware obligations, it won't be expending resources to help users steer clear of its latest and greatest.

[bigpup]

This is not that new or different.

The only real reason for an operating system to change, is to provide the needed support, for the latest hardware, and how that hardware operates.
The part about the processor makers not supporting Windows 7 or 8.1 is more about not going to make drivers for those versions of Windows.

Puppy and Linux is doing it too.
I have a newer computer that the older versions of Puppy will not run on.
They do not support the hardware.
In fact, the latest versions of Puppy, need to have the latest Linux kernel.
I had to change the Linux kernel, to a newer one, to get Tahrpup6.0.5 to work with my graphics card.

[musher0]

So, gang, hang on to your 32-bit computers if you want to keep computing on Puppies !!!
They're all the more precious.

According to big_pup's message above, even new Puppies would be pulling the rug from
under us !!!???

(I'm putting exclamation marks, but this is no joke. I'm serious. It's unfortunate that there
are no special exclamation marks to express sadness. This is very sad news.)

BFN.

[s243a]

If windows 10 is a service and not a product does that mean we don't own it? I run windows 8.1 and have been Ignoring the update invitations. I bought about a year ago what I thought was a good computer and yet I only have 9.65 GB free on my 372 GB C drive. Why is windows eating up so much of my storage!!! Given that in my experience each version of windows uses up more and more resourses I don't know why I should upgrade my software without upgrading the hardware first. Given this and the privacy concerns with windows 10, I'll stick with window 8 for now.

Ironical the small amount of space left is enough to run a fairly full featured version of pùppylinux but Is close to not enough free space for windows.

[nic007]

In the meantime I'll just go on using Windows XP happily on my old machine (and occasionally some older Puppies just for the fun of it). Good enough for the general / average computer user.

[wboz]

I think this is fine ... it's just that they won't keep upgrading Windows 7/8 to work on the next processor, and the next, etc. Why would you want to buy Windows 8 (an OS that everyone hates) or 7 (out of mainstream support) for a processor you'll buy two years hence? Why would one expect the OS maker would keep upgrading deprecated OS for newer processors?

As a side note, if your 300GB HDD is being filled up by Windows ... well, Windows sometimes does get messed up with caching old copies of OS or upcoming installations on your HDD. You can track those down and delete if you need to, after doing research to make sure you won't kill something you need. But that's only really an issue on 32GB SSDs. Whatever's on your 300GB HDD ... it's not (just) Windows. You've got something else going on. Maybe a browser cache way out of control or a whole bunch of malware installing itself because security holes haven't been patched.

[8Geee]

side;

300Gb being filled by Win is not unheard of. In the scale of things 16Gb being filled by puppy is sometimes intentional (f2fs), and when not, takes a giant pup and can happen (2fs save-file). In short harddrives are like credit-cards. People want to fill them to get their moneysworth out of them.

[Burn_IT]

300Gb does not get used by WINDOWS.
It may get used by programs running under Windows, but it is extremely unlikely to be Windows itself using the space.

If you run huge space hungry programs under any OS and don't manage that space, your disk will get filled.

I have a Photo Editing program that runs under both Windows and Puppy.
They both use 50Gb of storage, but 49+ of that is photos and is common data space.

[rufwoof]

Sounds Betamax to me. Can't see either of Intel or AMD opting to market that alone and will likely also cast VHS versions as well.

Windows is just a bloated program launcher. Puppy achieves that via simple textual file descriptions (XML), a bit like HTML.

There are now relatively powerful PC's on a USB stick such as the Intel Stick http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ ... stick.html

They'll just be more (low cost) diversity/choice, such as whether you want to buy the Windows Betamax or 'other' VHS based Intel/AMD Stick choice.

[bark_bark_bark]

AMD will releasing their new CPUs to be FINALLY competitive with Intel, and apparently they will be 40% faster than last gen and they will be compatible with both DDR3 and DDR4.

I can't wait.

[rufwoof]

Late last year it was being reported (Intel)

The company's tax rate plunged from 28.7% during the second quarter of 2014 to just 9.3% during the second quarter of 2015, driven by a one-time refund claim and Intel's decision to indefinitely reinvest certain prior years' non-U.S. earnings.

In other words, the decline in the tax rate is temporary, and Intel even guided for a tax rate of 26% for the third and fourth quarters. This abnormally low tax rate, along with share buybacks over the past year, allowed Intel to report flat EPS. In reality, operating income collapsed, falling by 24% year over year.

... and their answer to declining earnings is to lock into a single operating system market (that many might say had peaked and was also in decline)!!!

[amigo]

That Article's title states exactly the opposite of what the article says. It's not that the new processors are limited to windows10 -it's that windows10 is limited to the new processors -and that windows 7 & 8 will not be upgraded to use newer processors.

[gcmartin]

@Big PUP and @Amigo are echoing the message: New OS for new hardware.

This is one of the same things I have supported, even in Puppy Linux. In the 2005 era, Puppy Linux "solved" operations of 386s, 486s, and 586s and the peripherals of that day. In later years PUPs, they solved 686 and 64bit with past peripherals. Now that the manufacturing community of x86 no longer build 32bit PCs, the effort to build OSes and distros for them will diminish over time just as it has for 286s/386s/486s.

In 2014 AND 2015 more and more of PUP distro developers are indicating the "Target PCs-RAM" they prep their distro for. I support their views as a positive indicator for user awareness! They are NOT restricting the use of their distro, rather, they are sharing how they envision their distros to operate.

As Puppy has "solved" the build, tests, release and maintenance of old distros designed for old hardware, I never saw a need to redesign new distros for old hardware as well as new hardware. The old distros with its functionality just works and works well on the hardware it was designed for.

If a new distro designed to address new hardware thru its kernel use AND the distro developer shares what he expects, I fully agree with this, as the developer is indicating what hardware he is willing to support the use of his distro on. Their is NOT enough hours in the day for a developer to support each and every PC ever built for the distro(s) they present. Support for anything they design for takes time. Trying to support for things the distro was never intended for adds to the time. And it is for this reason, that I find any developer's statement of what PC design he envisions as a base-level for his contribution as a requirement in understanding and operating to support them. Thus, this is an important statement coming from the developer to any user.

I did understand what Microsoft intends. And, whether I agree or not, or like them or not, I must respect the fact that they are telling us what their distro is designed to operate on and what they do not and will not develop for. They have, in my view, already addressed old hardware at each level of their releases thru the years. And they are up-front about it in statements released with their OSes. This does NOT mean it wont work, it just means that they didn't design for it, whether it works or not.

.

[greengeek]

That Article's title states exactly the opposite of what the article says. It's not that the new processors are limited to windows10.

I don't read it the same way. It definitely sounds to me as if there will be something within the processor that is "code locked" and that only Windows 10 will satisfy the lock requirements.

Effectively these will be "WindowsBooks" ala "Chromebooks" - intended for online use more like a terminal server. I fully expect that the online portal for such hardware will be via some form of authentication server. Without an approved OS and an approved authentication portal for internet access this hardware will in my opinion be useless to anyone (in contrast to Chromebooks which are to some extent modifiable).

I guess we shall see.

[rufwoof]

I don't read it the same way. It definitely sounds to me as if there will be something within the processor that is "code locked" and that only Windows 10 will satisfy the lock requirements.

Effectively these will be "WindowsBooks" ala "Chromebooks" - intended for online use more like a terminal server. I fully expect that the online portal for such hardware will be via some form of authentication server. Without an approved OS and an approved authentication portal for internet access this hardware will in my opinion be useless to anyone (in contrast to Chromebooks which are to some extent modifiable).

Terminal services does seem to be the big push. Pay to use service rather than products.

Problem is I don't want to be running in terminal mode where my investment portfolio or cashflow spreadsheets are stored on a server alongside the server apps to run the spreadsheet - for MS or G to see/share as they see fit. Instead I want to process the spreadsheet locally away from prying eyes and just store that in encrypted form on the server (Cloud) using encryption that I know prevents prying eyes from gaining access to the data content.

Dumb terminals/powerful servers are a thing of the past. Today's tech has powerful processing available in small inexpensive hardware such that terminals don't have to be dumb - and can run things faster/better than the biggest of old-day servers.

But I can see their revenue/profits concerns and the desire to have terminal services earnings projections that are optimistic.

[gcmartin]

I'm not sure that is an approach they will use. But, should they do so, I have been involved with TS for over 2 decades.

One implementation
Link a partition or USB to your TS session. It will look like a TS unit on your TS desktop. All of your work will store locally. And the drive can be encrypted (although I have never tested this angle, I do know of one consultant who has). Local peripheral can be linked to the MS TS session(s). Over the years, I have setup to play media thru the local device sound and display as well as use local drives for either storage or feeders to apps in the TS session. But, no encryption testing ever done, except for TS drive/folders with sensitive materials in the TS session.

Hope that is helpful knowledge

[Burn_IT]

Governments push for terminal services as it saves them the effort of "hacking" into your machine to see what you are doing at home.
They already have access to ALL your online activity.

If you think I'm exaggerating you are wrong.
I was falsely accused of defrauding social services
I was temporarily out of work and claiming Unemployment Benefit. I took the opportunity to go to a computer firm down the road and get some training on their equipment which was new to me. I'd spend 3 hours each morning there and it cost me nothing and I received nothing other than the training. The rest of the day i was spending online at home searching for work.
One day there was a knock at the door and four people barged in and started attacking my computer equipment. When I grabbed the phone to call the police they deigned to tell me that they were from Social Services and flashed a letter at me that I assume was a warrant, but wasn't given time to read it. I managed to get them to leave after agreeing to attend an interview at the Social Security offices under caution.

They had been in touch with my solicitor, my bank, several relatives and friends, my accountant, and others. It took me months to clear the air of false accusations.

I eventually got a letter that just said no further action would be taken - but there was no explanation of what it was all about.

I later found out that an errant employee off the social security was reporting cases surreptitiously and claiming the reward that was available at the time.

[rufwoof]

Link a partition or USB to your TS session. It will look like a TS unit on your TS desktop. All of your work will store locally. And the drive can be encrypted (although I have never tested this angle, I do know of one consultant who has). Local peripheral can be linked to the MS TS session(s). Over the years, I have setup to play media thru the local device sound and display as well as use local drives for either storage or feeders to apps in the TS session. But, no encryption testing ever done, except for TS drive/folders with sensitive materials in the TS session.

I've just set up a raid1 (mirroring) partition(s) and have pcrypt as a desktop icon below the trash (right hand screen edge) together with that raid partition icon.

In rox, drag a file to the pcrypt icon, click ok.
Drag the resultant .key file to the md0 (raid1) icon - and then have two copies of the encryption key on separate partitions/usb's
... and I'm just left with the encrypted version of the file ready to upload to the cloud - perhaps by just dragging the file to a dropbox (rsync) folder/icon.

For decryption, download the encrypted file from the cloud (perhaps by moving it from a dropbox/rsync folder), open md0 and drag the associated keyfile to the same directory. Click the encrypted file and I'm just left with the unencrypted file ready to work with (encrypted file and 2 copies of the key no longer exist).

Assuming the cloud storage is correctly managed and doesn't lose files, and having a mirror of the key file on 2 different disks/usb's, and in using one time pad (key file same size as data file, in effect impenetrable), then the cloud data system can be hacked, spied ... to no avail. If the laptop is stolen then even if they have the data/config to access the cloud data - without the keys that's useless, and two copies of the keys for backup.

A unique one time key that doesn't have to be thought up ... for each file - is more secure than a single password for a entire disk encryption (that if hacked opens up the entire content).

Mostly I don't bother as I'm not bothered if anyone were to see the content of what I write/do. But for certain personal/family/finance files I want the comfort (and security) of privacy. Working on those files using local apps running in ram and I'm comfortable with the above choice.

[gcmartin]

@Burn_IT, sorry to hear that.

I have always understood that in most of the industrialized world, all it takes is a neighbor, co-worker, customer, etc to call the authorities to report their observation(s). Then, it requires the authorities to investigate. It does NOT require anything online, although, that could be a trigger as well.

One of the funniest stories I heard while in college was one where a call was placed to the local constable office reporting a strange occurrance in the sky. The officer drove out and sure enough did see similar to what was reported. He radio'ed in and his comrades laughed at him. But, the witnesses and the officer do assert they witnessed an anomoly that is yet to be adequately explained in the sky.

This is NOT a comparison of what happened to you. It merely is a fact that the "authorities" are trained to take all reports seriously. Thus, even a girlfriend or wife or children or ... can wreak havoc upon anyone.

And the law, in several countries I know of, is that "anyone can sue anyone else for anything at anytime". Trial lawyers know this.

This is quite a bit off-track on this thread, but I wish you well.

[8Geee]

Governments push for terminal services as it saves them the effort of "hacking" into your machine to see what you are doing at home.
They already have access to ALL your online activity.

If you think I'm exaggerating you are wrong.
I was falsely accused of defrauding social services
I was temporarily out of work and claiming Unemployment Benefit. I took the opportunity to go to a computer firm down the road and get some training on their equipment which was new to me. I'd spend 3 hours each morning there and it cost me nothing and I received nothing other than the training. The rest of the day i was spending online at home searching for work.
One day there was a knock at the door and four people barged in and started attacking my computer equipment. When I grabbed the phone to call the police they deigned to tell me that they were from Social Services and flashed a letter at me that I assume was a warrant, but wasn't given time to read it. I managed to get them to leave after agreeing to attend an interview at the Social Security offices under caution.

They had been in touch with my solicitor, my bank, several relatives and friends, my accountant, and others. It took me months to clear the air of false accusations.

I eventually got a letter that just said no further action would be taken - but there was no explanation of what it was all about.

I later found out that an errant employee off the social security was reporting cases surreptitiously and claiming the reward that was available at the time.

A wonderful case of (Gov't) employee theft that is NOT generally disclosed to the public. Shudda sued for costs related to being "taken for a ride" at your expense.