This week, Microsoft has already started blocking Windows 7 and 8.1 PCs which are equipped with the newest processors from receiving the security updates, making good on a policy they have announced but did not implement last year.
But the company also refused to provide security fixes to Windows 7 systems that were powered by AMD’s “Carrizo” CPUs, an architecture that was supposed to continue receiving patches.
The decree that led to the update bans, whether allowable or not under Microsoft’s new policy, was revealed in January 2016, when the company said making Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 run on the latest processors was “challenging.” Microsoft then ruled that Windows 10 would be the only supported edition on seventh-generation and later CPUs and simultaneously dictated a substantial shortening of support of both editions.
The biggest impact was on Windows 7, because it had become the standard in enterprises — Microsoft’s most valued customers — with deployment shares far north of 50%. According to Microsoft, Windows 7 was to be fully supported on sixth-generation processors — Intel’s were dubbed “Skylake,” AMD’s included Carrizo — until July 17, 2017. At that point, some Skylake-equipped PCs would continue to receive some security updates; other such PCs would get nothing.
Microsoft later walked back the cut-off, first by extending the end-of-support date to July 2018, then by repudiating the sixth-generation proclamation for those systems on we’ll-support-them list. The last move — which took place in August — meant that in most instances only seventh-generation and later processors from AMD and Intel were on Windows 7’s and 8.1’s no-go catalogue.
Even so, Microsoft on Wednesday acknowledged that it had blocked updates from reaching machines equipped with AMD’s Carrizo processor, then promised to correct the snafu.
“Microsoft intends to continue to support Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 with this processor and plans to address the issue causing the message in a future update,” said Edison Pus, identified as a Microsoft representative, on the company’s support forum. Edison did not specify when the update to the update would appear.
A shorter version of that message was also added to the “Known issues” section of the Windows 7 and 8.1 monthly roll-up and security-only updates.