Microsoft says new hardware is needed for Windows 10

Mar 22, 2019 18:32 GMT  ·  By

As you probably know already if you’re still on Windows 7, Microsoft has started its Windows 10 upgrade offensive earlier this week as the 2009 operating system is approaching the end of support.

While a lot has been said about the notifications that Microsoft now shows on the desktop in order to make people aware of the January 2020 Windows 7 end of life, few people actually noticed a smaller detail that Microsoft included in its upgrade brochure.

The warning displayed on the desktop of Windows 7 devices includes a link that points users to this page whose purpose is to provide information for those who may decide to upgrade to Windows 10.

Without a doubt, Microsoft recommending Windows 10 and not Windows 8.1, which is still supported, isn’t surprising by any means, but what’s a little bit unexpected is how the company says this upgrade should be performed.

Basically, while the software giant says users should move from Windows 7 to Windows 10 as soon as possible before the January 2020 deadline, how they should do that is by purchasing a new computer.

Microsoft says the following on the page linked above:

“The best way to experience Windows 10 is on a new PC. While it is possible to install Windows 10 on your older device, it is not recommended.”

Without a doubt, this sounds odd for many users, especially because back in 2015 when Microsoft launched Windows 10, the new OS was offered as a free upgrade to Windows 7 users. In other words, Windows 10 was supposed to run on the same hardware as Windows 7.

And while the new features that Microsoft added to Windows 10 in the meantime may require new hardware, labeling the upgrade on the existing configuration as “not recommended” is certainly unexpected.

Microsoft goes on to explain why you should purchase a new computer:

“PCs originally built with Windows 7 are running 10-year-old technology. Windows 10 has many of the same features and capabilities from Windows 7 built into the experience. Once you move to a new PC, there will be many aspects of the experience that you will find familiar, but also with important innovations and capabilities that were not available ten years ago.”

The company then highlights a series of Windows 10 features requiring new hardware, like touchscreen and pen support, the Photos app (?!), and security improvements.

Oddly enough, the system requirements for Windows 10 are very similar to the ones for Windows 7:  

Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor or System on a Chip (SoC)
RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) for 32-bit or 2 GB for 64-bit
Hard drive space: 16 GB for 32-bit OS 32 GB for 64-bit OS
Graphics card: DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0 driver
Convincing users to give up on Windows 7 and switch to Windows 10 will definitely be a difficult thing to do, and turning to recommendations like this one makes the whole mission even harder. And what’s worse is that it also causes more frustration among Windows 7 users, who have already criticized Microsoft’s approach several times already.

Some don’t think Windows 10 is worth installing because of all the modern features like the Microsoft Store, while others blasted the company for its Windows 10 offensive, including the notifications that show up on the desktop.

Right now, Microsoft’s biggest problem is that Windows 7 is so widely used all over the world. Windows 7 is still running on more than 35 percent of the desktop computers available globally, and Windows 10 needed around 4 years to finally take over the leading place.