Steve Smith talks about the best methodology to force users to upgrade their operating system.
Episode #7-29 released on March 18, 2017
What is the best way to force people to upgrade an operating system?
The short answer, prevent support for newer hardware in the older operating systems. And, this is exactly what Microsoft has done. To be fair, this is not the first time that Microsoft has tried to pull off this stunt, after all, they tried it with the sixth-generation Intel Processors, but later back peddled releasing drivers for Windows 7 and 8.1. The problem isn't that they have done it, we know they will eventually have to do it, the issue is that many people absolutely refuse to upgrade to Windows 10, and many of the reasons are completely valid. Then, again, many of the reasons why a company such as Microsoft may want to restrict new hardware to newer operating systems is, also, valid.
This means now we must play Devil's Advocate, from both sides. From the End-user's point of view, we paid for an operating system, and we expect to be able to use it, within the Terms and Agreement provided by use of the Operating system within the set number of machines we are allowed, regardless of build. Plenty of us upgrade our computers with time without changing the operating system, so within the normal convention, those of us with Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 expect those operating systems to be able to take advantage of newer processors and hardware.
From Microsoft's point of view, we may have expected you to use that operating system you bought years ago, with a specific set of then current and then upcoming hardware, processors, and software. And, furthermore, the cost implications of supporting hardware and software near the end of the life cycle, or past it, of the operating system the end-user continues to use may not be worth the investment, given the operating system may no longer be available for purchase anyway. There may, also, be features that would be unsupported in older Windows versions, making supporting a processor, or any other hardware, less of a viable or financial option.
For those who did not know this, Microsoft does issue an End of Life timeline for operating systems, which can give you an idea of when to expect your operating system to cease having updates. Using this End of Life calendar, and knowing that officially Microsoft stated that End of Life for Windows 7 was in 2015, we can understand that maybe they don't want to support an operating system that is technically outside the scoop of updates, and legally they do not have to. Unfortunately, Windows 8.1's End of Life is currently set at 2018, we are 2017.
This means, that while Windows 7 users may never be able to properly use new processors and expect a secure experience, Windows 8.1 users may be able to legally force Microsoft to back pedal, at least for those users who still use Windows 8.1. We will just have to see what happens this time. And, yes, we can all presume, this move is directly related to Microsoft trying to raise the adoption rates of Windows 10 above that of Windows 7.
Just a prediction, but I am sure a lot of the market share that would have adopted Windows 7 for their new processors will simply move to Linux, instead of Windows 10.
Host : Steve Smith | Music : | Editor : Steve Smith | Producer : Zed Axis Dot Net