Railfan Technology > Yet another reason to loathe Microsoft.

http://www.computerworld.com/article/3023533/microsoft-windows/microsoft-support-windows-10-new-hardware-itbwcw.html

If this is a bogus story, please let me know.  It sounds so absurd.....but then, little that issues forth from the bowels of computer land surprises me.

Be Well,

Tim Colbert  K3HX



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/16 19:32 by K3HX.

No big deal.  There are other processor families to choose from.

K3HX Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> http://www.computerworld.com/article/3023533/micro
> soft-windows/microsoft-support-windows-10-new-hard
> ware-itbwcw.html
>
> If this is a bogus story, please let me know.  It
> sounds so absurd.....but then, llittle that issues
> forth from the bowels of computer land surprises
> me.
>
> Be Well,
>
> Tim Colbert  K3HX

Smells like collusion, doesn't it? Intel and Microsoft conspiring together to force people to buy new hardware and software. I don't think it's absurd, because I believe they are now dealing with the end of "unlimited growth" in the PC market. They are running out of rabbits to pull out of the hat, dangling the "new feature carrot" to encourage the endless upgrade cycle, so they might be resorting to strong arm tactics to keep "growth."

As I've surmised in another thread, this might be another proof that "Moore's Law" is reaching end of the line. If I'm right, hope people saw this coming and didn't get trapped into thinking that PCs will forever become faster. Our eyesight has not evolved as fast as the increase in pixels for digital video, and neither has electrons "sped up" to catch up with our computing needs. You can't violate the laws of physics.

Anyway, I'll wait to see if this story has any merit. News travels fast in the Information Age, so I'm sure I'll hear all sorts of loud reactions to this, if it's indeed true.

I lost two PC s to viruses a few year ago, both HP with widows. I bought a Mac and have not lost it yet.
I revamped one of the PCs with Linux, it worked great but is not compatible with Ham software.
I finely just use my MacBook Pro......Swede............Albany,Or.

I recently bought a new Lenovo W530 notebook with Windows7 and an Intel i7 processor exactly because of this issue ... I wanted a backup for my current workhorse Windows7 notebook in case it "dies".  I have no clue why Microsoft is pushing Windows10 so hard ... I know it could be just an "urban myth" about Windows10 and the personal security/freedom of where I go on the net without being traced, but why take the chance ... I suspect both Microsoft and Intel have gone out of their way to make sure the NSA has back doors into "modern puters" ... again what do I know? ... but why take the chance ... I just got a new glasses prescription ... they make the pixels larger ... but I can't process the information any quicker ... we could be at the limit of the  "Moore's Law" with respect to us humans (at least old farts like me).  And given some of the comments on the link, I might not keep downloading the Microsoft updates for Windows7 ... who knows what are really in those "updates" ... why take the chance that the updates will actually "plant" new ways to monitor computer activities on older machines ...

Thanks for the post and the original question!

Odyssey
Evergreen,

The article is mainly bunk and doomsday declaration. Nothing new.

People complain that Windows OS is problematic because it has to be compatible with every Tom, Dick and Harry hardware and software.
So now people complain that Windows OS is NOT compatible with every Tom, Dick and Harry hardware and software.

Dammed if you do, dammed if you don't.

For Microsoft to claim no backwards compatibility of device drivers for future motherboards and other hardware like video cards, requires that Microsoft somehow arrange for those manufacturers not ro produce drivers for Win 7/8/8.1 for any future gear they produce (ie, collusion, conspiracy, whatever).  This sounds very much like future legal problems to me.

Looking at it from a business view, it is an interesting balancing act.  Clearly there is a lot of profit incentive in "planned obsolesence" for both the hardware and software sellers.  The sellers make money when you need to buy something new.  Supporting old stuff does not generally produce any new revenue.  Offseting that is the need to make buyers reasonably comfortable that they are buying a quality product that will last a long time.  There is inherent tension there, and a lot of interesting opportunities for both sides to try to find ways to outsmart the other side.

JBWX

BRAtkinson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> For Microsoft to claim no backwards compatibility
> of device drivers for future motherboards and
> other hardware like video cards, requires that
> Microsoft somehow arrange for those manufacturers
> not ro produce drivers for Win 7/8/8.1 for any
> future gear they produce (ie, collusion,
> conspiracy, whatever).  This sounds very muchne
> like future legal problems to me.

More likely, Microsoft is not planning to Windows 7 and 8 drivers for new hardware. And, of course, they cannot support third party drivers. Not word about whether earlier Windows are supported in VMs, though.

Yawn. Can't we stick to railroad topics. There's plenty of computer forums out there for this stuff.

55002 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yawn. Can't we stick to railroad topics. There's
> plenty of computer forums out there for this
> stuff.

​Actually I find this very interesting since I've been building my own computer since 2002!  I actually built a PC in November with a Skylake Processor (Intel Core-I7 6700K), I'm glad I put Windows 10 on this machine when I built it as I was considering the possibility of using Windows 7 on it, I'm glad I didn't!  There's a lot of hype over the privacy settings in Windows 10 and you do have some control over what Microsoft decides to "know about you", but most poeple just accept the "express settings" when they first turn on their new computer.  I've been running this machine now for about 2 months and so far, things are decent but I miss Norton Ghost which is what i used for years to back up my Operating System.  Since Ghost doesnt' support Windows 10, I've had to use Acronis True Image.  I hope someday to get a 4K monitor but that's outside the budget for now! 

clem Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> BRAtkinson Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > For Microsoft to claim no backwards
> compatibility
> > of device drivers for future motherboards and
> > other hardware like video cards, requires that
> > Microsoft somehow arrange for those
> manufacturers
> > not ro produce drivers for Win 7/8/8.1 for any
> > future gear they produce (ie, collusion,
> > conspiracy, whatever).  This sounds very
> muchne
> > like future legal problems to me.
>
> More likely, Microsoft is not planning to Windows
> 7 and 8 drivers for new hardware. And, of course,
> they cannot support third party drivers. Not word
> about whether earlier Windows are supported in
> VMs, though.

Microsoft never has and never will provide hardware specific drivers. That is, was and always will be up to the hardware manufactor. Microsoft does develop and provide generic drivers based on widely used hardware specs.