Despite the increase in the market share of Windows 7, the Microsoft announced in January 2016 that it would stop to support the older versions of the Windows, such as, Windows 7 & 8.1. But, after roar of anger and backlash from the Windows users, the Microsoft announced that it will continue to support the PCs which are being run by the Sky Lake silicon chip even if they are being powered by the Windows 7 or 8.1. At the same time, the Microsoft made it clear that the all future silicone chip sets would require Windows 10 for the continued support.
Immediately after the Redmond decision to withdraw further support, the older versions of the Windows OS are encountering error messages, even during the installation process. One such issue is reported while installing the older versions of Windows upon even the newer PCs are receiving the message of:
‘Unsupported Hardware’.
In August 2016, the Microsoft announced that the PCs, installed with the seventh generation KabyLake and AMD Bristol Ridge chips will require Windows 10 t get continued future technical support and updates.
This is all despite the fact that the Microsoft has already made it clear that the businesses and the Windows Enterprise licenses with software assurance as well as the ones with KabyLake systems can have extended support till the January 14, 2020 for the Windows 7 and the January 10, 2023 for the Windows 8.1.
It looks as if the Microsoft is having issues of the supporting the different versions of Windows for the crucial updates and technical support. So, they are forcing their clientele to convert their current OSs to the latest OSs, so that, uniform and quick support can be provided to all the users of Windows 10.
Source: ZDNet