Users of new CPU architectures will not receive Windows 7 and 8.1 updates anymore, according to a Microsoft support topic published last week.

This means that if you've purchased one of those super-expensive 7th generation CPU models in the past few months, you'll have to update to Windows 10 if you want to receive any security updates.

Currently, Windows 7 and 8.1 users will receive the following error when scanning or attempting to download Windows updates.

Unsupported Hardware

Your PC uses a processor that isn’t supported on this version of Windows and you won’t receive updates.

Microsoft says that sometimes, an alternative error message also appears.

Windows could not search for new updates

An error occurred while checking for new updates for your computer.

Error(s) found:

Code 80240037 Windows Update encountered an unknown error.

Owners of the following 7th generation CPU models are known to be affected: Intel seventh generation processors (Intel Core ix 7xxx), AMD “Bristol Ridge,” and Qualcomm “8996."

Users can still install Windows 7 or 8.1 on these CPU architectures and CPU drivers will continue to work. The only difference is that they won't receive security updates, leaving workstations exposed to malware and exploits.

Microsoft recommends that customers upgrade to Windows 10. If updating Windows is not a possibility, the other option is downgrading to an older processor, albeit this would imply a downgrade in performance.

The move to not support Windows 7 and 8.1 was taken by Microsoft, and not by the respective CPU makers.