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Thread: Time to buy more?

  1. #1

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    Time to buy more?

    Microsoft cuts off Windows 10 support early for some PCs

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    "You snooze, you lose" for laggards avoiding Windows 10 as it continues to change into new versions with the same "Windows 10" marketing label. But you might be bitten by a case of bad decision when you bought a PC.

    An entire generation of PCs, most only three or four years old, are now unable to receive new feature updates to Windows 10. If Microsoft doesn't deliver a patch within the next six to nine months, those PCs could be cut off from security fixes.

  2. #2
    Administrator Steve R Jones's Avatar
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    Re: Time to buy more?

    What will they think up next.

    They gave Win 10 away for most of a year... People on older computers jumped on the chance.

    To take that away now is beyond stupid.
    Wi-fi went down for five minutes, so I had to talk to my family....They seem like nice people.

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    Re: Time to buy more?

    It sounds like Microsoft decided to "stick a fork in the road" and let those machines that can't update to Fall Creator's Update and beyond at least get security patches for a while. This messes up the "Windows as a service" concept a bit, but they probably knew there were limits to its viability.

    After all, even Windows 7 is nominally still in extended support but no longer gets some kinds of security fixes that are not compatible with it.

    So we just have another case of a platform that is "supported... but not supported'" In this case it is hardware rather than the OS. Security fixes will apply but feature and function enhancements can't be obtained as Windows 10 evolves.

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    Ex-Super Mod RobDog888's Avatar
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    Re: Time to buy more?

    In the article it states that its only pc's that had the atom chip in them. Seems its a hardware compatibility issue bug which we have conflicting reports from MS if they are going to fix it or not.

    Acer's support note implied that Microsoft and Intel were working together to release a software fix for this issue, but Microsoft's statement of July 19 confirms no such fix is coming
    If a system is certified by its manufacturer as Windows 10 compatible then it is not at risk.
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    Super Moderator jmcilhinney's Avatar
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    Re: Time to buy more?

    Quote Originally Posted by RobDog888 View Post
    In the article it states that its only pc's that had the atom chip in them.
    Yeah, I feel like this statement from that article is somewhat misleading:
    An entire generation of PCs, most only three or four years old, are now unable to receive new feature updates to Windows 10.
    It's hardly an entire generation of PCs. It's only those on a specific generation of Intel Atom CPUs, which would be a minority of the PCs sold at that time. We obviously don't know the details but it could just as well be Intel's fault as Microsoft's.

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    Re: Time to buy more?

    The issue isn't with the Atom product line but one particular architecture that was marketed under the Atom label:

    http://www.zdnet.com/article/microso...ver-trail-pcs/

    Microsoft confirmed today that PCs using Intel's Clover Trail CPUs will be blocked from Windows 10 upgrades. But in a major change of the "Windows as a Service" policy, those devices will continue to get security updates.
    It sounds even nastier than I thought though:

    If you own a PC with one of the now-unsupported CPUs, you can install the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, but that's the end of the line. That device will be blocked from installing any further feature updates but will continue to receive reliability and security fixed in what Microsoft calls "quality updates," which are delivered on the second Tuesday of every month.
    Edit: I think you're right that it isn't even those CPUs but just some of the systems that used them. No telling what the issue really is right now... GPUs, chipsets, or just drivers - could be anything.

    There were some features in the 1703 Creators Update that can be very valuable. Being stuck on 1607 could become a problem.
    Last edited by dilettante; Jul 20th, 2017 at 10:06 PM.

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    Ex-Super Mod RobDog888's Avatar
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    Re: Time to buy more?

    Who likes Windows Vista better now! lol
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    Re: Time to buy more?

    Quote Originally Posted by dilettante View Post
    The issue isn't with the Atom product line but one particular architecture that was marketed under the Atom label:
    Indeed. I have a Surface 3, which has the top-of-the-line Cherry Trail Atom, and it's currently running the latest Fall Creators Update Insider build.
    Quote Originally Posted by dilettante View Post
    It sounds even nastier than I thought though:
    I'm not sure what you first thought but it actually sounds less nasty than I first thought, in that initial reports were that they would get no updates at all where they are now at least getting security updates and bug fixes.
    Quote Originally Posted by dilettante View Post
    There were some features in the 1703 Creators Update that can be very valuable. Being stuck on 1607 could become a problem.
    That's true but then a Clover Trail Atom is a rather pedestrian CPU so anything genuinely targeted at creators is unlikely to be missed by those using a machine that was designed for basic tasks.

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    Re: Time to buy more?

    These "Creators" updates have nothing to do with "creation" that's just a silly marketing term.

    What people need are not the goofy new drawing applets that came with these updates but the improvements to Windows itself. Examples are things like the improvements in DPI Virtualization, including GDI Scaling.

    That allows a lot of legacy software as well as new development to slide by ignoring the gyrations required to be properly DPI Aware, without issues like blurry text.

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    Re: Time to buy more?

    Quote Originally Posted by dilettante View Post
    What people need are not the goofy new drawing applets that came with these updates but the improvements to Windows itself. Examples are things like the improvements in DPI Virtualization, including GDI Scaling.

    That allows a lot of legacy software as well as new development to slide by ignoring the gyrations required to be properly DPI Aware, without issues like blurry text.
    I'd say that that's a perfect example of the sort of thing that people using low-end systems with Clover Trail CPUs will not benefit from because such PCs are unlikely to have high-DPI displays.

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    Re: Time to buy more?

    Why do you think somebody using an inexpensive PC would not run into High DPI scenarios?

    It has nothing to do with the CPU and everything to do with the monitor. It is a pretty rare monitor for sale today that is less than 1920 x 1080 resolution, just about the limit for what is normally considered 96 DPI (100%) which was intended for VGA resolutions. People with vision that is not perfect might well find the text too small to read comfortably. The recommended fix is not to try to make the video adapter drive the monitor at some lower non-native resolution, but instead to raise the DPI setting.

    Office workers and average folks may well be the ones using cheap PCs of this type and dealing with High DPI on them.

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