Microsoft starts blocking updates for Windows 7 and 8.1 on new processors

Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that it won’t be supporting old versions of Windows on new processors. The company clarified its plans regarding supporting older versions of Windows on new processors last month. As we reported, Microsoft is going to stop updates from Windows Update on new processors running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1. And now, Microsoft has finally started blocking updates for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 on PCs with new processors.

So for instance, if you have a PC with Intel’s Kaby Lake processors and use Windows 7 on it, you will no longer get updates on it — including all of the important security updates. Microsoft is also blocking updates on AMD’s Ryzen systems, as well as some Intel Skylake systems.

When you try to download updates via Windows Update on a PC that’s running the new processors, you will simply see a message from Windows Update saying:

“Your PC uses a processor that is designed for the latest version of Windows. Because the processor is not supported together with the Windows version that you are currently using, your system will miss the important security updates.”

Microsoft dropping support for older Windows versions on new processors isn’t surprising to see at all. Windows 7, for instance, is currently in extended support since January 2015 and it’s been more than 2 years since mainstream support for the OS was dropped. Windows 8.1, on the other hand, is set to leave mainstream support early next year. Extended support for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 is still not going to end before 2020 — but you’ll be making a huge mistake if you decide to continue using the older versions of Windows until then due to all the security issues.