A few people told me that complaining about Microsoft’s inability to ship Windows 10 version 1809 was pointless as this is a victimless crime. And that this is the kind of thing that only bothers tech bloggers and enthusiasts.

I don’t agree. But as Brad as just documented over on Petri, this delay has had a material impact on Microsoft’s PC maker partners. And they, too, have heard absolutely nothing from the software giant. In other words, Microsoft’s cone of silence, its abject inability to communicate, extends to them too.

“This is a major headache [for PC makers],” Brad explains. “And having talked to a couple of them off the record, they are not only stuck between a rock and a hard place, but they are also dealing with shipping hardware on untested software.”

The issue, of course, is Windows 10 on ARM running on the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 processor. As it turns out, this platform only supports Windows 10 version 1809. So PC makers had to make a choice: Ship PCs with a non-released, unsupported version of Windows (1809) with known bugs. Or ship them with an unsupported earlier version of Windows (1803).

But it gets worse: The agreements that PC makers have with Microsoft prevent them from marketing any PCs based on Windows 10 version 1809 until that version ships. And since that version was pulled in early October, that means they’ve suffered for over a month with no ability to market their newest PCs. And with no word at all from the platform maker regarding when that might change.

“Companies like Samsung and Lenovo are taking the biggest risk with these devices,” Brad notes. “They are backing a Microsoft initiative to move away from Intel and experiment with ARM and for their loyalty, Microsoft is not upholding its promise to ship a version of Windows on time.”

Yep. It’s a fiasco.