Is Intel building a new version of its Coffee Lake chipset just for Win7?

[Karlston]

Intel is in the process of releasing a souped-up Coffee Lake chipset that will actually work with Windows 7, according to Anandtech. The trick will be convincing Microsoft to allow updates to the new H310C.

Getty Images / Microsoft

Back in March 2017, Microsoft quietly started blocking Windows Update on newer generations of Intel and AMD hardware. Then, a month later, those running Windows 7 on Intel 7th generation or later chips, AMD 7th generation or later or Qualcomm 8996 or later, were greeted with a warning that they were trying to install an update on:

Unsupported hardware

Your PC uses a processor that is designed for the latest version of Windows. Because the processor is not supported together with the Windows version that you are currently using, your system will miss important security updates.

Windows could not search for new updates

An error occurred while checking for new updates for your computer.

Error(s) found:

Code 80240037 Windows Update encountered an unknown error.

Mind you, the block had nothing to do with drivers. Many of the offending systems had perfectly usable Windows 7 drivers. The block was instituted by Microsoft, presumably in an attempt to limit their obligation to keep Win7 working with newer hardware.

 

You can read into that motivation whatever you like.

 

There have been many workarounds and hacks developed that allow people to install Win7 security patches on their newer hardware.

 

Now it appears that Intel is planning to release a new Cofffee Lake-based chipset that will somehow coexist with Windows 7. Anton Shilov at Anandtech reports:

Based on some recent hardware released from motherboard vendors, it would appear that Intel is prepping a new chipset and appropriate drivers to enable Coffee Lake processors to work with Microsoft’s nine-year-old Windows 7 OS….

To make the Coffee Lake/H310C viable for businesses, Intel will need to ensure that Microsoft supports such systems as well. Microsoft for their part has not announced anything on the matter yet, so either Intel is working on a rather one-sided plan here, or the two vendors have a bigger plan in motion to resume OS support for the new H310 revision.

The H310C already appears in marketing material from Asus and Gigabyte. Both of those motherboard manufacturers have been providing Win7 drivers for years. The big open question is whether Microsoft plans to call off the patching dogs and let Win7 security patches go through on these updated chips.

 

As @Ascaris puts it:

We know why MS would refuse to support anything new on versions other than 10: they have no concern for CPU sales, but they have a huge interest in the adoption rate of Windows 10.  It’s all upside and no downside for MS to only support new hardware on 10. Why the CPU makers would get on board with such a thing, though, is another question, since for them, cutting off the percentage of the customer base that refuses Windows 10 as potential customers is all downside.

Surely Intel has worked out some sort of compromise with Microsoft. Surely.

 

We aren’t talking about monster new features and killer performance on brand-spankin-new Win7 PCs. The H310C doesn’t leap tall buildings with a single bound. But it does provide a substantial boost to a long-langoring architecture, which may prove popular with bargain hunters who prefer a stable operating system.

 

Like me.

 

Want to run Win7 on an updated PC? Join the putsch on the AskWoody Lounge.

 

Source: Is Intel building a new version of its Coffee Lake chipset just for Win7? (Computerworld - Woody Leonhard)

[steven36]

its about like  before Windows XP ran out of updates they came out with new PCs with  XP .   I doubt Windows 7 will get any love from Microsoft  like XP did and get more years of updates and Business will be forced to switch to windows 10 or face fines or pay millions of dollars for updates .  Updates run out soon for Windows 7 anyway so it want matter to Windows users much longer but once the market drops way down and  software vendors  will drop it like a hot potato . While Microsoft motive is to get people update too windows 10 witch this is nothing new they been doing this since day one in 2015. Intel's  motive is money is all .  But unlike Windows XP was Microsoft don't sell Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 anymore and if you have a OEM keys i do on my PCs if i was forced to buy hardware Id just use Linux instead and buy AMD instead . 

 

PS: Witch most likely I want Ill just by a New PC and Dual boot witch ever version of Windows that comes with  it with Linux witch will be Windows 10. If your going to use windows if you want keep getting updates to your favorite apps as soon as the market drops from Windows 7 they going only make software for Windows 10 it will save vendors a bundle in overhead only having  to make software for Windows 10 instead having to test it all on 3 or 4 different kinds of windows . On Linux once a version   runs out of updates everywhere drops software updates for it . 5 years is a long as you're going get updates for apps. i just upgrade my LTS release once every 2 years when a new one comes out.

[Karlston]

Yep, it's about the incompatibility of the needs of Microsoft and Intel.

 

Microsoft needs Windows 10 world-domination. There is no money for them from new devices unless they have Windows 10.

 

Intel needs to sell chips, they have little interest in what OS they're used for. Intel is not in the OS game, they make CPU's and motherboard support chips. To alienate 40%+ of potential customers who don't want or are not yet ready for Windows 10 is to reduce their market by 40%. Not the best business idea, and if this is true, Intel just blinked.

 

Common sense is that there needs to be a transition period while the "world" moves from earlier Windows versions to 10 and hardware needs to remain compatible with OS's at least as far back as 7 for a while yet.

[steven36]

33 minutes ago, Karlston said:

There is no money for them from new devices unless they have Windows 10.

It's predicted for Microsoft to  become a 1 trillion company by 2020  because they going sell Windows as service to all these companies   its already started.

33 minutes ago, Karlston said:

Common sense is that there needs to be a transition period while the "world" moves from earlier Windows versions to 10 and hardware needs to remain compatible with OS's at least as far back as 7 for a while yet.

They will be one for home users the market share wont drop out over night ,  Windows Updates  are way over rated  XP proved that  . I remember when XP was fixing to run out of updates most business already bought windows 7 but that was only because they gave them 2 more years this here is going to be a big mess. Businesses  don't have a choice like home users do they will get  audited and fined they could even lose there insurance over it. It just depends on the countries laws .   I got a laptop with Windows 7 its used all the time Ive not updated it since Wanacry patch and  we never a had problem with it.

 

 

[straycat19]

Windows XP is long from dead, as is Windows 98.  There is scientific hardware that requires a pcmcia slot for the interface card which was only found on systems in the late 90s running Windows 98.  A friend that works in IT at a university bought two of my old laptops from me last year for a professor who needed them to replace his that finally failed so he could continue to use his equipment.  They were Dell Inspiron 3000s from 1997 that I paid $2000 each for back then.  Needless to say the law of supply and demand came into play and I doubled my money. 

 

Windows XP is used to program and run most robots and ATMs.  There is no problem with this since these systems are blocked from internet access thru the use of VLANs.  Windows 7 is long from dead since it is the only OS that can be totally controlled any more. 

 

Windows 10 has been found to be totally unsuitable for large deployments since even Microsoft's own software (Microsoft System Center) has been unable to upgrade 10% of the systems it controls with the only solution being to reimage all those systems with the latest Windows 10 release. My friend at the university said they have 1100 systems that will have to be manually reimaged since Microsoft software can't do it.  

 

Microsoft has already started moving organizations to a subscription and hosted service.  We no longer have exchange servers running, instead our email is Office 365 hosted by Microsoft, and it sucks, to put it mildly.

 

I still have several Windows 7 Pro licenses left and have been installing it on the latest Kaby Lake processor systems without a problem.  I still have 5 new Windows 7 desktop systems setting here that have been setup but aren't being used because I don't have room for them.  My wife calls them a waste of $20,000, I call them an investment for a future windows 10 free computing environment.

 

Microsoft and its fanboys can say and do what they want but there will always be old systems around because they have a purpose and are useful.

[steven36]

1 hour ago, straycat19 said:

Windows XP is long from dead, as is Windows 98.  There is scientific hardware that requires a pcmcia slot for the interface card which was only found on systems in the late 90s running Windows 98. 

You can buy  a PCMCIA 2 to Expresscard adapter  cheap and use it on newer computers  he should of googled it before buying that old junk  from you

 

USB Port Pcmcia Card Reader Adapter works on any pc only 40 bucks

 

now there is software that only runs  in XP  but i  would use a VM  if needed it.

 

 

[EternalX]

On 8/10/2018 at 2:31 PM, straycat19 said:

Microsoft and its fanboys can say and do what they want but there will always be old systems around because they have a purpose and are useful.

 

I completely agree with you, it is up the consumer to dictate whether an operating system is obsolete, outdated or no longer relevant. I have several XP units that I use for Audio files with 2tb hard drives just for my personal collection and if I need to edit anything while on the go I remote login with team viewer quick support to my hearts content. I also use Windows 7 and I use that strictly for gaming, audio production, video production. Windows 10 ver 1803 as of now I use it on my laptop for what ever I feel is fit for the operating system, such as browsing, audio mastering sometimes rendering video but not as solid as Windows 7, I honestly believe that this whole Windows 10 experience is only based on the graphic user interface as to functionality. 

 

We need function over form, Windows XP, 7 offers function over form. Vista, 8 and 10 just buggy all around time to time not all the time as Vista and 8 that is but migrations have been terrible during Windows 10 build 10240 initial release, during attempted upgrades or fresh installs drivers stopped working, printers stopped working, windows installations were corrupted or unmounted or incomplete the list goes on I had so many conflicts and issues with Windows 10 in the beginning and I felt as if the operating system is incomplete... as of now 1803 iteration of the OS I still have a bug here and there but not as bad as initial release that is why we have the insider program to fix as it goes. Took a while since 2015 to get it right lol. Windows XP and 7 are always in my personal best interest as top of the line OS for business spectrum's.

[Christopher Gehlke]

Win 7 still runs like a charm on my old HP HDX18 laptop i bought for 20$. Upgraded it to a Core 2 Quad QX9300 and 8gb of ram with a SSD and now it soars. I agree windows 7 is still a great OS but MS will still try to push you to Windows 10. I tried to install 7 on my coffee lake platform PC and have issues finding some drivers.