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Recently there are reports about Windows 10 didn't support Intel Clover Trail devices from Creators Update onward. Perhaps you asked why this is the case.<\/p>\nRecently there are reports about Windows 10 didn't support Intel Clover Trail devices from Creators Update onward. Perhaps you asked why this is the case.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the past several vendors shipped devices (mostly Windows 8 Tablet PCs) with Intel Atom processors from Clover Trail family. These systems could be upgraded to Windows 10 (RTM), And it was possible, to install feature update till Windows 10 Anniversary Update.<\/p>\n
But users are facing install issues at Windows 10 Creators Update (Version 1703) on the following Clover Trail CPUs.<\/p>\n
Those processors are shipped between 2012 and 2013 (according to this article<\/a>). I found this article<\/a> naming some non compatible devices. If you install a new Windows 10 Build on so am device or try an upgrade, the install wizard will show this warning.<\/p>\n The device is no longer quoted as compatible with Windows 10. Acer has published this support article<\/a> about this topic. The 'Intel Clover Trail processors are not currently supported in Windows 10 Creators Update' within the Acer article seems to be 'never supported'. Microsoft won't offer feature upgrade for those processors, but servers security updates for Windows 10 Anniversary Update till 2023. I've mentioned that issue within my blog post Windows 10 support for Clover Trail machines till 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n All I could find was statements like: 'Intel doesn't deliver drivers for this processors, so Microsoft won't support these Clover Trail CPUs from Windows 10 Creators Update upward'.<\/p>\n The problem with the Atoms isn't the CPU, it's the integrated graphics core (GPU). The drivers are causing issues under newer Windows build. Intel supports these driver only for Windows 8.<\/p>\n Driver support is the task for hardware vendor\u2026 so: Intel doesn't provides drivers nor support, but Microsoft get bashed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Then I searched the web and found a few more details.<\/p>\n Wikipedia says that the Atom processor family<\/a> was designed as SoC (System on Chip) for mobile devices like Smartphones and Tablets, and has been introduced 2012 as an ARM competitor.<\/p>\n The issue with Windows 10 is the Intel Atom GMA (SGX 545) driver required for Clover Trail CPUs. GMA stands for INTEL Graphics Media Accelerator \u2013 a graphics extension. Intel doesn't provides drivers for Windows 10, as we could read in August 2015 within this Intel forum thread<\/a>.<\/p>\n (Source: Intel forum)<\/p>\n It's possible, to install the Microsoft Basic Video adapter driver for Windows. But Windows 10 needs also the GMA driver. This Intel page<\/a> lists the supported Windows versions –\u00a0 'Intel Atom\u00ae Processor Z2700 Series with Intel\u00ae Graphics Media Accelerator' from\u00a0 Cloverview family launched September 2016 are supported only in Windows 8\/8.1.<\/p>\n Drivers for Windows 8.1 or drivers provided via Windows Update for Windows 10 are causing issues (see here<\/a>). In Microsoft Answers there is a long forum thread<\/a> with mixed feedback, that the driver offered via Windows Update failed or worked. Also OEMs (Lenovo<\/a>) has forum entries discussing this, and there is a discussion on Twitter<\/a>. Depending on the CPU several GMA drivers are discussed.<\/p>\n To sum it up: Microsoft needs an Intel GMA driver for Windows 10, but this driver isn't available from Intel. Existing Windows 8.x drivers are not suitable for Windows 10, if I don't missed something.<\/p>\n We can quote devices sold 2012 as 'old' and they reached end of support. But from a customer view it's the failure of soft- and hardware vendors. I still remember Microsoft's promise before Windows 10 release: Windows 10 will run on all devices capable for Windows Windows 7 or Windows 8.1. And it's not forgotten, that Microsoft forced many users of Windows 7 and 8.1 systems to upgrade to Windows 10 \u2013 although it was known, that Windows 10 was delivered 'as a service'.<\/p>\n![\"Windows](\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20170728193424\/http:\/\/zdnet3.cbsistatic.com\/hub\/i\/2017\/07\/16\/a99ba308-df36-42c8-9e60-45046230051a\/9f8d3974570d30cd03dce1dd4089faaa\/windows-10-is-no-longer-supported.jpg\" "\\"Windows")
<\/p>\nWhy does it require drivers for a CPU?<\/h2>\n
Perhaps somebody is wondering, why it needs a driver for a CPU? My Windows Insider MVP colleague Ingo B\u00f6ttcher left a German comment<\/a> within my blog pointing to the right direction (here is a free translation of his comment).<\/h4>\n
The problem is the GMA (SGX 545) driver<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nFinal words<\/span><\/h2>\n