halohalo

Microsoft removed Windoews To Go feature since Windows 10 version 2004. Maybe you can install latest version of windows 10 using 3rd party utilities, but it does not mean you won't have any problem.

To enroll the consumer ESU program, Microsoft account is required and must be an administrator account. Users can use existing ESU license on up to 10 devices. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-consumer-extended-security-updates-esu-program-33e17de9-36b3-43bb-874d-6c53d2e4bf42

Intel discontinued SGX Attestation Service on April 2, 2025. So it is impossible to complete first SGX online verification using PowerDVD. According to the information from Blu-ray.com, a PowerDVD user failed to complete the SGX verification after replacing CPU. https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/developer/archive/tools/sgx-attestation-service-utilizing-epid.html

And Microsoft will provide Security Intelligence Updates for Microsoft Defender Antivirus on Windows 10 through October 2028.

Microsoft still tries to encourage upgrading to Windows 11, so there is no reason to stop the activation for Windows 10 now. The real problem is you may not be able to find out Windows 10 compatible driver for new PC, because some devices only have Windows 11 driver.

I found no problem using latest ASUS BIOS 0066 for NUC 10 and latest BIOS 3201 with ME firmware 14.1.75.2420 for ASUS Z490 motherboard. Intel released latest ME driver 2514.7.16.0. However, PowerDVD 22 can't support latest AACS, which means someday playing UHD Blu-ray discs with unsupported AACS2 will be a problem. Another bad news is Pioneer sold PDDM and stopped making ODD.

I uninstalled Microsoft Edge and didn't have any WebView updates downloaded. The view of calendar in 21H2 Home didn't change even with latest CU installed.

Microsoft already ended upgrading from Windows 8 to 10. You can upgrade Windows 8 to Windows 10 version 1607, but you can't pass online verification so you have to use outdated 1607 offline.

If you checked my FurMark2 benchmark score record, you should know the impact of graphics driver security updates usually can be ignored if there is no critical compatibility issue.

UE4 created new precompiled shader files for different graphics card, which means I have to experience shader compilation stutters again. So I copied and renamed the old precompiled shader files. Now I can play P3R at 120 fps instead of 90 fps.

Microsoft added Intel 8th~10th generation processors because the old support list didn't reflect accurate offerings. Anyway, the support list will be continually updated.

I've upgraded to GeForce RTX 4070. Ray tracing cores work using Vulkan. Latest NVIDIA control panel shows RTX super resolution option, but HDR option is greyed out because 1607 does not support Windows HDR. Before R570, IoOpenDriverRegistryKey is optional, so I need to bypass related version check codes to make Ada Lovelace GPU work on 1607. I also combined Vulkan drivers from Vulkan beta driver 553.40, but Vulkan 1.4 drivers from beta driver 553.68 are also compatible. My FurMark2 benchmark score using 553.62. https://gpumagick.com/scores/877639

You can upgrade to 24H2. The problem is Intel dropped support before Windows 10 reaches EOS. Intel won't fix vulnerabilities after June 30, 2025.

Latest list of Windows 11 version 24H2 supported Intel processors removes 8th-10th Gen processors, so OEMs have to use 11th Gen processors or later to make new 24H2 compatible devices. MS didn't explain why these processors were removed from the list. However, Intel didn't release 24H2 compatible graphics drivers for 7th-10th Gen processors. Besides, Intel 8th-9th Gen processors will reach ESU on June 30, 2025. So it is a reasonable decision. But I will use Windows 10 21H2 until EOS. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/minimum/supported/windows-11-24h2-supported-intel-processors https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000022396/processors.html

I tried to overwrite OS version to 1803 instead of 1709 and bypass related check codes. Now I can run simple Vulkan demo using 556.12, but Furmark2 benchmark still crashed. I guess if I want to run OPENCL in 556.12, I have to find out a solution to make CUDA 12.5 work first. Besides, Vulkan supports NVIDIA Optimus, so I can run simple demo using 566.45. My FurMark2 benchmark score using 553.62. https://gpumagick.com/scores/843394