[Solved] What are the new Intel processors supported by Linux ?

[Dupo]

Hi,

I know that Intel Haswell processor is well supported by Linux. But I don't know for the others Intel processors (broadwell, Sky Lake, Kaby Lake, Coffee Lake). I heard that Windows 10 is only supported on Kaby lake (not Windows 7 and Windows 8.x). is it true ?

Thanks.

[JoeFootball]

I heard that Windows 10 is only supported on Kaby lake (not Windows 7 and Windows 8.x). is it true ?

I wouldn't know about Windows, but for Linux this is not true as the current stable kernel supports Kaby Lake.

EDIT: More info in this article, from eight months ago as I type.

Joe

[Aleron Ives]

As JoeFootball said, Linux kernel 4.10 and newer officially support Kaby Lake, although you can technically run Linux on Kaby Lake hardware with an older kernel, even though you don't get the full benefit of your hardware that way.

As for Windows, it isn't so much that new hardware doesn't support old versions of Windows; it's that Microsoft strongarms Intel and AMD to not release chipset drivers for old versions of Windows as a way of forcing people to use newer versions. Ivy Bridge is the last chipset to have XP drivers, and IIRC Skylake is the last chipset to have Windows 7 drivers. You can potentially use Windows 7 on Kaby Lake, but you have to cobble together a driver solution on your own from third-party sources, and things like NVMe SSDs and USB 3.0 may be problematic, since Windows 7 doesn't understand some of today's hardware.

[Dupo]

Hi,

Thanks for your answers.

Happy to know that the Kaby Lake processor is supported on Linux kernel, and seems to be well supported on Linux 4.10 and above. I talked about Windows because it is for the games (some people have Windows 7 or Windows 8.x rather then Windows 10). Happy to be on Gnu/Linux rather than Windows, because Microsoft seems to force people to switch to Windows 10, so they may have an older version. I don't like this way of doing things. Many people keep Windows for the games, or because they have old games for Windows.

[Dupo]

Hi,

For Kaby Lake, what is the best kernel to use for now : 4.10 or 4.11 (the only kernels available in the Mint update manager) ?

Thanks.

[Pjotr]

Hi,

For Kaby Lake, what is the best kernel to use for now : 4.10 or 4.11 (the only kernels available in the Mint update manager) ?

Thanks.

Probably the latest kernel from the 4.11 series.

[Dupo]

Hi,

For Kaby Lake, what is the best kernel to use for now : 4.10 or 4.11 (the only kernels available in the Mint update manager) ?

Thanks.

Probably the latest kernel from the 4.11 series.

Ok.

[Aleron Ives]

For me, 4.10 was actually better than 4.11. My laptop backlight didn't work with the default 4.8 kernel or the 4.11 kernel, but it did work with the 4.10 kernel. Be sure to test your system thoroughly before you make a final decision on which kernel to use.

[Pjotr]

For me, 4.10 was actually better than 4.11. My laptop backlight didn't work with the default 4.8 kernel or the 4.11 kernel, but it did work with the 4.10 kernel. Be sure to test your system thoroughly before you make a final decision on which kernel to use.

Correct remark.

You might even try the 4.13 kernel; apparently it was added yesterday to the official repo's.