Microsoft Publishes Initial Lists of Skylake-Compatible Business PCs It Will Support on Windows 7 and 8.1

As promised, Microsoft has delivered the initial lists of Skylake-based business PCs on which it will support Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. These lists come from four of the biggest PC makers for businesses: Lenovo, HP, Dell and NEC.

Last week, Microsoft revealed that it was changing how it will support older (but supported) versions of Windows on new hardware platforms. So beginning with Intel’s Skylake generation of processors and chipsets, Microsoft will only support Windows 7 and 8.1 on a limited range of business PCs from specific PCs makers. And it will do so only through July 2017.

At the time of that revelation, Microsoft said that it would soon deliver a list of specific new Skylake devices it will support to run Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.

“This approach ensures our customers can upgrade now to new devices their employees will love while preparing for a Windows 10 upgrade,” Microsoft’s Terry Myerson explained, stating that an initial list was expected soon and would be updated regularly. “For the listed systems, along with our [PC maker] partners, we will perform special testing to help future proof customers’ investments, ensure regular validation of Windows Updates with the intent of reducing potential regressions including security concerns, and ensure all drivers will be on Windows Update with published BIOS/UEFI upgrading tools, which will help unlock the security and power management benefits of Windows 10 once the systems are upgraded.”

As I revealed exclusively this week, this list—really a set of separate lists from different PC makers—would be a lot less limited than initially indicated. HP, for example, told me that they would support virtually all of their business-class PCs.

And so it is. If you visit the Skylake systems supported on Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 web page, you’ll see that over 100 PCs are on the initial lists. Not a bad start.