No Official Windows 7 Drivers for Ryzen
Hardware enthusiasts are eagerly awaiting AMD's new Ryzen processors from AMD based on the Zen architecture. Available benchmarks suggest that Sunnyvale's silicon can compete hand-in-hand with Intel's main offerings, something we've been asking for years. But those wishing to use Ryzen chips on Windows 7 need to know that there will be no official drivers on that operating system. While Ryzen was "validated" on Windows 7, the first step to getting the most out of it will (in theory) be installing Windows 10.
Microsoft's Silicon Support Policy
Based on reports from some users and several videos posted on YouTube, Windows 10 managed to adapt without too much trouble to certain hardware configurations that today are considered "obsolete". In fact, the key to optimizing the Windows 10 experience on those platforms was limited to adding a bit more RAM and replacing the hard drive with a solid-state drive. Backward compatibility is something we will always applaud, however, in recent months some exceptions have appeared. Microsoft threw the first stone when it announced limitations in Windows 7 support on Skylake chips. Users cried out in protest, and Redmond backtracked. But with Kaby Lake there was no negotiation: The only officially supported operating system on that silicon is is Windows 10. The big question is, what will happen with Ryzen?
AMD Confirms Validation on Windows 7
At first, it was speculated that AMD might make an exception, and a recent article published by Computerbase pointed in that direction, but the information turned out to be false. Just as with its latest Bristol Ridge processors, everything that reaches the shelves under the Ryzen name will have official support limited to Windows 10. Now, AMD confirmed that Ryzen hardware was "validated" on Windows 7. The company did not explain exactly what that validation means, but it is not unreasonable to think of a full installation with sufficient stability. Even so, I imagine that no gamer will be willing to invest money in new hardware and sacrifice performance at the hands of the operating system.
The Bottom Line
In summary: What Microsoft communicated in August 2016 remains firm: Kaby Lake, Bristol Ridge, and Zen-Ryzen will only see official support on Windows 10. Of course, if there is one thing we know hardware enthusiasts for, it is their acts of rebellion. If someone decides to spend 20 minutes polishing a heatsink to improve contact with the processor and steal an extra 200 MHz of overclocking, they will definitely try to install Windows 7 or Windows 8.x on Ryzen. The first experiments with Kaby Lake already appeared on YouTube...
