Computers with the latest generation processors require Windows 10 to continue to receive support from Microsoft. The company has updated its support policy which now states, " Windows 10 will be the only supported Windows platform on Intel’s upcoming Kaby Lake silicon, Qualcomm’s upcoming 8996 silicon, and AMD’s upcoming Bristol Ridge silicon".
The change doesn't take effect immediately, Skylake CPUs will still be supported on Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 through July 2017. However any devices powered by these CPUs should be upgraded before that date to continue to receive support.
After July 2017, the most critical Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 security updates will be addressed for these configurations, and will be released if the update does not risk the reliability or compatibility of the Windows 7 and 8.1 platform on other devices.
For older hardware there are no changes, Windows 7 will be supported till the 14th of January 2020 while Microsoft will continue to support older hardware on Windows 8.1 till the 10th of January 2023.
The new policy is likely put in place to convince users to run Windows 10 on their new hardware. While for most consumers that might a sensible thing to do, many companies regularly install older Windows versions on their computers.
Microsoft is currently pretty aggressive in convincing users to upgrade to Windows 10. By providing its latest Windows version for free and nagging Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users to upgrade it has convinced so many users that the operating system is now running on more than 200 million devices.
