Et tu, AMD? No Ryzen drivers for Windows 7
Microsoft announced back in January of 2016 that the upcoming chip generations of Intel and AMD would only support Windows 10, and not the more widely used Windows 7, or Windows 10's predecessor Windows 8.x.
It was not really clear what Microsoft meant by that at the time, but we figured it out some time later. Basically, what it means is that Microsoft does not support these processors on older versions of Windows, and that both Intel and AMD won't support them officially either.
So, no official drivers, and no support for new features that these processors may ship with on older versions of Windows.
Some or even all of these processors may work however; a YouTube video was published that demonstrated that Windows 8.x could be installed on a PC equipped with Intel's Kaby Lake processor (check the link above for the video).
Unsupported means that some new features may not work as intended, and that Microsoft, Intel and AMD won't provide support on devices equipped with these processors if they run Windows 8.x or Windows 7.
It was not really clear what AMD's intentions where with the company's Ryzen processors. Microsoft did mention back in 2016 that upcoming Intel and AMD chips would not run on older versions of Windows.
Information on AMD stances has come to light recently. While AMD appears to have validated Ryzen processors on machines running Windows 7 and Windows 10, the company stated that it would only offer support and drivers for Windows 10 (via Infoworld).
PC users who upgrade hardware components on their PCs, and those who want to stay on Windows 8.x or 7, face a difficult decision now.
While they may be able to install a Ryzen or Kaby Lake processor on the machine, and run Windows 7 or 8.1 on it, they'd be left alone if they require support. Neither Microsoft, nor Intel or AMD will provide support on unsupported operating system version.
So, if you want to run the latest Intel or AMD processors, you need to get your hands on Windows 10 if you want them to be supported officially by those companies.
It is unclear if Ryzen processors will perform the same on Windows 7 or Windows 10, or if driver support and better operating system support make Windows 10 beat earlier versions of Windows performance and stability wise.
This is something that has to be tested extensively, but it seems likely that without proper drivers and operating system support, performance and stability are probably going to be worse on older versions of Windows.
Closing Words
The decision to limit support for next generation silicon to Windows 10 seems anti-consumer to me. Windows 7 is still the operating system that is most widely used, and that is not going to change in the next couple of years.
Did Microsoft convince AMD and Intel to drop support for older versions of Windows? I cannot see any of the two companies drop support for the Windows version with the largest user base. We will probably never know for sure.
Now You: What is your take? Why are AMD and Intel supporting only Windows 10 for their next gen chipsets?
Good. Consumers need to move on. Whine all you want about still being supported. The last thing we need is Windows 7 to become the new XP a few years down the road, security holes and all.
Of course. It is better to move to a windows version where privacy and stability problems are the norm.
Windows 7 get the same spywares windows 10 haves, but there is even less tool for disable thems…
wow techNOTix, get your facts straight.
win 7 you can disable everything, it is in W10 that you can’t.
at least if you’ve bothered by security even before W8 came out.
Agree with the privacy issues but stability? I use Win 10 ever since Consumer Preview build and for me this is the most stable Windows OS I’ve ever used, at least from those bits and pieces I still remember from Win98+.
@Technowix, “Windows 7 get the same spywares windows 10 haves”. I’m afraid this is not correct. Have a look on GitHub pages dedicated to block Microsoft spyware components, several lists are available and if you focus on those handling Win7/8.1 as well as Win10 you’ll notice that the blockers are far more numerous for Win10.
If you read experts’ comments, if you consider all of what is written on Win10 … you have no choice than to consider that Win10 IS spyware not to mention an advertisement platform : this is even, IMO, the core philosophy of this OS. Of course the infrastructure has to have something, If a company rapes the user it has at least to be done with excellency, as Google for instance. Think that Win10 doesn’t even offer that excellency is like walking on someone’s toe and saying we’ve done it intentionally. The company is obviously uneducated.
Concerning this silicone “shall we / will we / will we not support older OSs on our newest chips?” it’s plain commercial bluff. Let those sticking to their Win7/8.1 carry on and you’ll see as the next commercial argument “Our latest chips do and will continue to support older OSs and we’ll continue to support them as well”.
Anyway, no blackmail here. I’ve never and will never accept that. Determination is fed, always, by having a look at what is essential. A computer is NOT essential. Period.
Off-topic : The article states “Et tu, AMD?”. Martin, if the title intended a wink at French it should rather mention “Et toi, AMD?” ;)
@Tom, it’s Latin, not French.
@Earl, thanks. If there’s one thing worse than to be ignorant it is to ignore it :)
Music, Latin, ancient Greek are among the continent of my weaknesses!
@Martin, now I understand. ;)
I had Latin in school, not French, so, Latin it is for me. Sorry for not making that clearer.
@Tom Hawack – More specifically, it’s a parody of the famous quote, “Et tu, Brute?â€, from Shakespeare’s play, “Julius Caesar”. It was said by Caesar when Brutus (a supposed friend) betrayed him and joined in stabbing Caesar to death.
@David, I had a look on Wikipedia and learned what you state, indeed. Also, the English culture refers quite often to Latin expressions, perhaps more than the French one, I mean in everyday language, not as such relevant of a Latinist, even if he/she may be one of course.
@Martin, no problem! Of course the French language has relationships with Latin and “ex-abrupto” (!) “Et tu, AMD?”, quickly read and read by someone who ignores the Latin wording referring to Brutus, Caesar and Shakespeare could interpret this as a “Et toi, AMD?” moreover because precisely of etymology : “Et toi” in French would fit one of the translations of “Et tu”, which is “And you” even if others would consider a “Even you?” … you see I did my homework on Wikipedia!
This was totally off-topic but, hey, if you don’t mention things you never get to learn, even if the topic is out of a thread’s considerations, right?
So, AMD it was, AMD it remains. AMD, Brutus?!
@Himitsu I work at a computers shop and you wouldn’t believe how many computers get stuck trying to update windows or they don’t work properly after a “theorically” tested update or devices stopping to work because windows automatically installed a new driver.
“we need”???
You mean who exactly??
Where do you take that arrogance from to decide how I use my hardware in the next 3 years? Windows 7 will be supported with security patches until January 2020 (and possibly after that for companies).
IMHO: Time to migrate completely to Linux after that. Windows 7 will never be purged, even after support ends. It will find it’s place inside a virtual machine. A virtual machine disconnected from the internet.
@ Yokogawa
Tell that to all the Governments, Health organizations, Banks (ATMs !!) , etc, etc, who use Win 7 in order to run Legacy software, which require a major rewrite in order to be compatible with Win 10.
“The last thing we need is Windows 7 to become the new XP a few years down the road, security holes and all”.
Oh dear. Replace Win 7 with Win 10 in the above sentence and you will be very close to current reality.
Have you not noticed that, after 18 months, Win 10 is STILL full of bugs and potential security problems.
There are still 11 major problems In Win 10 15031, even after SIX recent updates !! Win 10 is really a half arsed beta OS.
Take your rose tinted glasses off, fan boy.
@ Technowix
Invest in some decent AV and Anti-Malware software. Even Win 10 needs it. Windows Firewall and Windows Defender do not do the job.
Well said! I use win 7 prof. One of my computers got a BSOD by downloading an update from Microsoft! I use for all my work XP! (off the internet). No problems. Also, I read in another post that Linux, will continue to update and service XP. The problems start as soon as you hit the internet. My next move will be LINUX, period. Sick and tired of these blackmailers.
Afaik DELL and Lenovo offer support for Windows 7. Lenovo actually sells KabyLake laptops with Windows 7. Don’t buy on micro$oft’s fud. Windows 10 is a Vista with an ugly theme on top of it, plus some tracking features, and nothing more.
Most people do not upgrade any hardware on their older machines, except maybe for storage (HDD or SSD), so this is really about what’s being sold now and in the future. Of the new Windows machines (with the new processors) being sold, how many of them have Windows 10 installed? I’d guess the majority of them (almost all of them, in fact).
I think next time I buy a graphics card it will be an awesome old card, rather than a good new card.
These processors will probably run on W7, its just some of their new features won’t be supported. I guess MS has to resort to these sort of tactics now to sell its operating systems. W10 Game Mode was a good laugh however.
As a Phenom II user, this is one more reason why the next upgrade will be to a second hand I7 4xxx or 5xxx instead of this new AMD architecture. The high price point was already bad enough. No Windows 7 support seals the deal.
All I want is hardware AES support and SSE4, something which Intel has provided for years now. In a world full of older hardware that is still “good enough”, these high prices and dictatorial business tactics simply will not work.
What about very huge Windows 10 issue, which is corrupted search mechanism after joining PC to AD domain. Can anyone explain me why on almost every computers joined to AD, Windows suffer from below issue: When creates a new profile it doesn’t include the Indexed folder which contains the settings for all the Language packs %userappdata%\Local\Packages\windows.immersivecontrolpanel_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState\Indexed\
Thus breaks the indexing function for that profile and every new profile created on this PC. Many people is bothered by this issue according to:
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/fa517ab8-af55-4448-9e2a-9efef9948fea/windows-10-indexing-issues-for-domain-users?forum=win10itprogeneral
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-win_cortana/no-settings-or-control-panel-items-in-search/36fa2c3a-9589-4b6a-9a94-030060c87386
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-win_cortana/index-search-of-settings-doesnt-work-ive-found-out/51465eb5-5f2b-42ff-a956-cfc1834ae040
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-win_cortana/updated-kb3163018-bug-breaks-search-indexing-of/962688a1-1a73-47cd-9de0-c4dc1d3ca207
Ghacks please escalate this issue in Microsoft and help resolve this bug!!
You guys that are bitching about privacy issues on Win10..stfu, u are dumb as hell…complaining about Win10 spying & yet you all probably use either android &/or iOS…..wanna be 100% safe? disconnect from the internet, problem solved
No, I’m using a Windows Phone. And I only use it as a phone with my carrier. To run programs I have a computer with proper security and better performance.
@userx, Well as only 43% of the worlds population own a smartphone you’re wrong to make that assumption, how about wanna be 100% safe? avoid tech with data gathering, spying, call it what you will, built into it, or even better pressure on governments to pass laws with the intention of protecting consumers privacy.
Or you could just join the other sheep who consider themselves so boring and conformist that they don’t care who collects data on their private live.
Agree! Regrettably, governments are the first in line to get all that information. Microsoft, Google, Facebook, etc. are telling us that they do not collect private information, that they do not share, much less with the government. It is all B.S. Did you read about the NSA being hacked, and “loosing the Microsoft keys, which would allow the NSA,to get into any computer in any part of the world? So Microsoft and the rest of them are lying to us!
troll
Seriously, this is a non issue. If you like the feel of windows 7 as much as you do download the theme. You can install Win 10 and make it look, feel, act and operate like Win 7. You would never know the difference while being on Win 10. It’s what I do!
here I made it easy for everyone.
http://www.classicshell.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4750
If you understood anything about Windows 10 you’d understand people dislike it for many more reasons than just the looks.
Assuming we won’t see avx2 support on ryzen (and assuming amd didn’t create new ISE like in old days of 3dnow!) there won’t be any need in those, so I really don’t understand what the panic is all about.
What A Surprise – NOT.
XPOCALYPSE FOREVER !
It seems that not everyone is following Microsoft/Intel in terms of drivers for Windows 7 on Sky Lake/Kaby Lake based motherboards. MSI is providing these drivers for the whole range of socket 1151 motherboards.
Other motherboard manufacturers are likely to follow. When the new AMD chips hit the market we will probably also see drivers for Windows 7
Great to see that the industri is opposing Microsoft from forcing consumers a product that they neither need nor want.
Never, ever going to W10. Don’t care what chip I have to run. Coercion will not work on me, M$ can simply kiss my my business (and my ass) goodbye. I have known Linux is in my future since the GW10 debacle started (which I successfully avoided.)