Is it true some motherboards will not run earlier versions of Windows than 10?

Chris Wilson

Chris Wilson

Chris Wilson

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Someone supposedly PC savvy told me just before Christmas that some new motherboards will not run earlier versions of Windows such as 7 or XP. Is this true? I am thinking of updating my main PC and will want to run Windows 7 64 bit Pro and maybe dual boot to XP as well due to legacy software I need to function. I also heard from someone else that it was new processors that sometimes had this limitation, not motherboards...

Secondly, how can I tell if an on board sound card will allow what my current one calls "Stereo Mix"? It's also something I would deem essential.

Also asking for a true serial port is probably pushing my luck ;)

Thanks.
 
A similar issue affects the newer Intel CPUs; but this is a support restriction imposed by Microsoft. Anything which is Kaby Lake or newer will pop up a warning and have reduce functionality. The last CPU to be fully supported with the old Windows versions is the Skylake range.

One workaround for legacy software is to run it through a virtual machine.

The “stereo mix” or “what u hear” recording option doesn’t tend to be that common now with on-board audio. However Audacity (free audio software) does give you this capability on Windows 10 through it’s WASAPI loopback. There are other software-based ways to add this feature if it is not included with your audio driver.

Not many modern motherboards have a serial port now. Sometimes you can add one via a motherboard header. However, the simplest way is a USB-to-serial adapter cable. This just appears like a regular old school serial port to software.
 
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I would caution against running win 7 on a modern Asus mobo. I tried it, I had numerous problems, all of which were only solved when I installed win 10. Drivers for some Asus boards are ONLY win 10
 
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