IMHO, it feels like just another hamfisted way to get the adoption of Windows 10 to increase. The whole point of Windows used to be that it would run on nearly every system, with most overhead being reactivating the license, now you'll actually find yourself re-installing an OS that refuses to work on a newer processor.
They're closing the gates to their pseudo-walled garden. Windows 7/8 don't have permanent revenue streams, WIndows 10 does (or will).
For all the song and dance of Windows 10 being superior, Linux seems to not care at all about what processor it runs on.
Linux seems to not care at all about what processor it runs on
That's not true, there definitely are unsupported (Intel/x64) CPUs for Linux. It even prints a lovely warning on boot to not file any bug reports because you're using an unsupported CPU.
But, what Linux does (often) do is make it possible to get a kernel patch or upgrade to add the missing support.
Outside of an all-volunteer ecosystem, like Linux or the BSDs, supporting and validating software on a particular processor family costs time, money, and ties up engineering resources, you know.
They're closing the gates to their pseudo-walled garden. Windows 7/8 don't have permanent revenue streams, WIndows 10 does (or will).
For all the song and dance of Windows 10 being superior, Linux seems to not care at all about what processor it runs on.
And Ubuntu does just fine.