Welcome back Win7

[John Coloccia]

The general idea isn't a terrible one: prevent root kits from taking over your system. The implementation was extremely heavy-handed.

But it seems to have been squashed. I don't know anyone locking down systems like this, and Microsoft has even signed some Linux distributions so they work with secure boot, but just keep it turned off and life it good.

[Lightages]

There is also a new problem. Skylake processors and newer will only run correctly on Windows 10. They have "reasons" for this but WTF?

[rdl]

There is also a new problem. Skylake processors and newer will only run correctly on Windows 10. They have "reasons" for this but WTF?

I hadn't heard about that. I know there can be  problems installing Windows 7 on 1151 motherboards if the manufacturer only provides USB 3.0 ports (no PS/2 or USB 2), since Windows 7 has no built in support for USB 3.0

[madires]

There is also a new problem. Skylake processors and newer will only run correctly on Windows 10. They have "reasons" for this but WTF?

Some business PCs with a Skylake CPU are supported: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/11675/windows-7-windows-8-1-skylake-systems-supported

[rdl]

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/11675/windows-7-windows-8-1-skylake-systems-supported

They're saying they won't cut off security updates early for Skylake systems after all, a backpedaling move from what they had previously announced, which was probably just another scheme to force people over to Windows 10 a little faster.


http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/03/skylake-support-on-windows-7-and-8-1-given-a-one-year-extension/

[hans]

I believe there also was some trouble with Intel's new speedstep technology they introduced with Skylake. The Microsoft Surface with Skylake suffered from poor battery life for months before an update was released, only for Win10 I believe. The new speedstep should allow faster steps in clock speed and power modes, which is overall nice, but MS probably didn't/couldn't fix that in the older Windows 7 architecture/kernels (or didn't bother).

Skylake PC's will just boot and work.. other than that probably not much to say. You probably should install Intel's latest microcode to fix some bugs. I see these support limitations as purely business/artificial driven, which is not unique to MS or the PC industry. As engineers/developers we probably all know how horrible it is to support patch changes in older/newer versions, maintain backwards compatibility, etc. Technically alot is possible, given enough time and resources, but MS won't make any money from it (new PC's will rarely be shipped with Windows 7) and want to push Win10 as hard as they can. So all in all it makes sense (for them).

Unless you want to utilize one of the latest connectivity options on Intel's platforms there is not much reason to upgrade since like Sandy/Ivy bridge age.
Some new standards like USB 3.1 and M.2 is nice. But honestly I have never 'needed' USB3.0 (USB2.0 does fine for my external harddrives etc.), and my current laptop came with a M.2 SSD which is also a bit quicker allround, but not worth the upgrade/extra cost/GB for me.
So only if you want to do a new system build I see it as a potential issue.

[madires]

Technically alot is possible, given enough time and resources, but MS won't make any money from it (new PC's will rarely be shipped with Windows 7) and want to push Win10 as hard as they can. So all in all it makes sense (for them).

A lot of business PCs are shipped with Win7 and 10. Companies are very reluctant to move to Win10. Especially in the EU, Win10 might violate several privacy related laws. So companies will have to wait for legal certainty about that.

Some new standards like USB 3.1 and M.2 is nice. But honestly I have never 'needed' USB3.0 (USB2.0 does fine for my external harddrives etc.), and my current laptop came with a M.2 SSD which is also a bit quicker allround, but not worth the upgrade/extra cost/GB for me.

I like USB3 for fast backups.

[stj]

The same thing for MS. They made the secure boot thing with UEFI bios developers, to possibly lock all pre-installed Windows machines. However, so far I have never seen any laptops with bios completely locked down, not even Surface family.

well it's locked on my Asus Transformer, and that's not even running windows.
it was hinted by Asus that it was done by Intel because it has an Intel cpu.
i tend to believe this because all Asus Tablets and maybe some other brands that use Intel cpu's are Secure-Boot Locked, but machines from the same manufacturer with ARM cpu's are NOT locked.

[sony mavica]

for desktop definitely ubuntu - provides the best user experience for the "average joe" - everything is prepared and works out of the box.
for servers my personal preference is debian stable, second would be centos

i love ubuntu but i use that on my laptop my main pc i use everyday i stick with windows 7

[HighVoltage]

On most of my lab PCs I am running XP very successfully and have no need to change.
On my CAD station (mechanical and EE stuff) I am using Win7

I looked at Win 8 and said NO way
Then I glimpsed at Win10 and said NO way

I am not sure what will come after Win 7  but why upgrade, if everything runs stable and fulfills my need?
 

[dannyf]

I just reluctantly upgraded from my winxp to win7, having tested both win7 and win10 for a few months.

Winxp was perfect for me but more and more of my software cannot run on it. And I wished I had a 64bit version of it. Pae isn't as good as 64but native support.

So far win7 has been good.

[chris_leyson]

Win10 broke some software on the last update even though I was running in Win7 compatibility mode, gone back to Win7 

[dannyf]

A potentially good candidate is windows server 2016. I have been playing with it with the goal to use it as a desktop os. Much smaller footprint, and really robust. Some program conpatability issues and not terribly (GUI) user friendly.

[linux-works]

There is also a new problem. Skylake processors and newer will only run correctly on Windows 10. They have "reasons" for this but WTF?

all 3 of my new pc builds are for skylake and linux.

care to retract your statement?

win7 has trouble installing on skylake.  win8 will install (I'm told).  I never tried either one on this chip.  but linux - booted and ran with latest mint or ubuntu distro just fine.

yesterday I helped our company sysadmin create an old ubuntu install that uses new kernel for skylake.  works fine and we get to keep using 14.04 ubuntu for build reasons (compilers, version of python, etc).

vlc hd video is really nice and fast on linux and skylake.  I built 2 systems that I often use for playback (i5 and i7, both 35w tray versions that are heatpipe passive cooled).  no dropped frames and very smooth video.  no longer need to use windows anymore.

[Lightages]

There is also a new problem. Skylake processors and newer will only run correctly on Windows 10. They have "reasons" for this but WTF?

all 3 of my new pc builds are for skylake and linux.

care to retract your statement?

I was referring to statements made by Intel and MS regarding the comparability with versions of Windows.

It is not clear to me whether Skylake will have all features working in Linux.

[JPortici]

Last time i checked Mac's don't even have PCI or PCIX ports ...

well.. thunderbolt.
lack of drivers.. that's another thing

[linux-works]

There is also a new problem. Skylake processors and newer will only run correctly on Windows 10. They have "reasons" for this but WTF?

all 3 of my new pc builds are for skylake and linux.

care to retract your statement?

I was referring to statements made by Intel and MS regarding the comparability with versions of Windows.

It is not clear to me whether Skylake will have all features working in Linux.

absurd FUD.  of course 'all features' will be supported by linux (which is just power saving, which is all new cpus ever really give you, these days; cpus already have all the instructions you'll likely ever need and the only new things they CAN do is make the hardware faster and add power savings/sleep modes).

MS is full of FUD, as usual.  they may say that previous windows versions may not get new power savings modes, but linux is not a previous windows version

[AntiProtonBoy]

If there's still time, I'd recommend MacOS.

I wouldn't. I've had more kernel panics and hangs requiring a power cycle on my MacOS X machines than I've had with any recent version of Windows. I haven't had a BSOD on a Windows box in nearly a decade. MacOS X, on the other hand, has been an unstable pile of crap. The last reasonably stable release was Snow Leopard.

What on earth are you doing to get kernel panics like that? I've been developing on macs in the past 7 years and not once had problems you describe.

[rdl]

I don't understand that really. What does Intel or AMD stand to gain by limiting which operating systems they will support with drivers? Do they not want to sell as many chips as possible?

[Lightages]

I was referring to statements made by Intel and MS regarding the comparability with versions of Windows.

It is not clear to me whether Skylake will have all features working in Linux.

absurd FUD.  of course 'all features' will be supported by linux (which is just power saving, which is all new cpus ever really give you, these days; cpus already have all the instructions you'll likely ever need and the only new things they CAN do is make the hardware faster and add power savings/sleep modes).

MS is full of FUD, as usual.  they may say that previous windows versions may not get new power savings modes, but linux is not a previous windows version
[/quote]

WTF? FUD? I said clearly "It is not clear to me whether Skylake will have all features working in Linux." This was a statement of my ignorance, nothing else. MS and Intel have said emphatically that Skylake will only fully work in Win10. They have now apparently extended the date when this will be so. No FUD......................

[John Coloccia]

MS and Intel have said emphatically that Skylake will only fully work in Win10. They have now apparently extended the date when this will be so. No FUD......................

All that's happened is Microsoft said that it's no longer going to support new processors in Windows 7/8, and Intel/AMD have said that they no longer intend to write drivers for legacy operating systems. As much as I don't like Microsoft, it seems pretty reasonable to me and is long overdue. They've always had this crazy backwards compatibility thing going on. No one else does that.

[madires]

You might want to read following:
- http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-extends-again-support-for-windows-7-8-1-skylake-based-devices/
- https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/11675/windows-7-windows-8-1-skylake-systems-supported

[BravoV]

You might want to read following:
- http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-extends-again-support-for-windows-7-8-1-skylake-based-devices/
- https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/11675/windows-7-windows-8-1-skylake-systems-supported

Thank you ... this to confirm that my Win 7 x64 will stay for a while, at least at home. 

[madires]

Bad news: http://venturebeat.com/2016/11/01/microsoft-stops-selling-windows-7-and-windows-8-1-to-computer-makers/