Microsoft will no longer ship 32-bit Windows 10 to OEMs

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Starting in Windows 10 version 2004, Microsoft will no longer provide 32-bit ISO images to device vendors, significantly reducing the presence of 32-bit Windows 10 on the market. New devices running 20H1 will have 64-bit Windows 10 version only.

The company has updated hardware requirements for Windows 10 version 2004, noting the following:

Beginning with Windows 10, version 2004, all new Windows 10 systems will be required to use 64-bit builds and Microsoft will no longer release 32-bit builds for OEM distribution. This does not impact 32-bit customer systems that are manufactured with earlier versions of Windows 10; Microsoft remains committed to providing feature and security updates on these devices, including continued 32-bit media availability in non-OEM channels to support various upgrade installation scenarios.https://winaero.com/blog/microsoft-will-no-longer-ship-32-bit-windows-10-to-oems/

This actually means, that it is still possible to buy or download a 32-bit Windows 10 version, so if you have a 32-bit device, you will be able to upgrade the OS to 20H1. However, the days of 32-bit Windows 10 are running out. It is a matter of a short period of time for the 32-bit OS to remain in the past.

The CPU hardware requirements have also been changed. The page is now lists AMD Ryzen 4000 series as a required CPU for Windows 10 version 2004. In fact, such CPU are already available for consumers, and are compatible with older releases of the OS. In general, Windows 10 for desktop editions requires a 1 GHz or faster processor or SoC that meets the following requirements:

  • Compatible with the x86* or x64 instruction set.
  • Supports PAE, NX and SSE2.
  • Supports CMPXCHG16b, LAHF/SAHF, and PrefetchW for 64-bit OS installation

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Author: Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

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