Microsoft Corp. will no longer be providing software updates to anyone running an older version of Windows even on computers powered by the latest Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. microprocessors.

The company has reportedly stopped serving up software fixes to PCs running Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 on Intel’s new Kaby Lake chips and AMD’s recently released Ryzen chips. Instead, users will need to update to Windows 10 in order to obtain the latest updates and improvements. However, Microsoft said it will continue to provide critical security patches for the time being.

Microsoft argued this is necessary because of the complexity of supporting older Windows versions on the latest silicon chips, but critics say the move is simply intended to get more people to use Windows 10. Microsoft announced its plans to stop offering updates last year, spinning the idea as “Windows 10 embracing silicon innovation.” It later provided the following clarification of what’s happening:

“6th Gen Intel Core devices on Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 will be supported with all applicable security updates until the end of support for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1,” Shad Larsen, Microsoft’s director of Windows Business Planning, wrote in a blog post. “As previously communicated earlier this year, future silicon platforms including Intel’s upcoming 7th Gen Intel Core (Kaby Lake) processor family and AMD’s 7th generation processors (e.g. Bristol Ridge) will only be supported on Windows 10, and all future silicon releases will require the latest release of Windows 10.”

Microsoft began blocking updates for Windows 7 and 8.1 on newer PCs last month, and the policy is now being enforced for all users.

“As new silicon generations are introduced, they will require the latest Windows platform at that time for support,” Microsoft says on its support lifecycle FAQ page. “This enables us to focus on deep integration between Windows and the silicon, while maintaining maximum reliability and compatibility with previous generations of platform and silicon.”

No doubt the move will be deeply unpopular with some users, who may have bought newer PCs but opted to stay with older versions of Windows for a variety of reasons. But for Microsoft, the move provides two benefits – boosting Windows 10 adoption and also fewer headaches, as its programmers and developers can spend less time adapting code to work with different hardware configurations.

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