Friday 21 July 2017

Millions of recent laptops will stop receiving new features and aniversary update

Laptops running on Intel Atom 'Clover Trail' chipsets will not receive any Windows 10's feature updates post the Anniversary Update, issued in summer last year.

Microsoft has confirmed that millions of recent laptops will no longer receive updates to add new features to Windows 10.
Laptops running on Intel Atom 'Clover Trail' chipsets will not receive any Windows 10's feature updates post the Anniversary Update, issued in summer last year.
Despite most of these machines only being three or four years old, Microsoft says it is unable to push these updates to 'Clover Trail' laptops, due to Intel ceasing support for the chipset.
Machines that will no longer receive these updates include those running on Intel Atom Z2760, Z2580, Z2560 and Z2520 processors, such as the HP Envy X2 laptop. Reports say that at least 10 million of these devices were sold in 2013 and 2014, according to analyst estimates.

Ahead of the launch of Windows 10, Microsoft's executive VP of the Windows and Devices Group Terry Myerson said: "Once a Windows device is upgraded to Windows 10, we will continue to keep it current for the supported lifetime of the device - at no cost. With Windows 10, the experience will evolve and get even better over time."

"If a hardware partner stops supporting a given device or one of its key components and stops providing driver updates, firmware updates, or fixes, it may mean that device will not be able to properly run a future Windows 10 feature update," says a Microsoft spokesman.

While feature updates will not be forthcoming, Microsoft has pledged to continue issuing security patches to these machines until January 2023, the end of the original Windows 8.1 extended support period.

Source & further info: TechRepublic