Microsoft is working with some of its biggest partners to kill Windows 7 and 8

Microsoft is working with Intel, AMD, nVidia, and Qualcomm to support Windows 10 at a chipset level, effectively killing the future of Windows 7 and 8.

The changes, which were announced in a company blog post, are the next step in Microsoft's big push to get everyone, from personal users to businesses, onto the latest version of the operating system.

The partnership with the chip makers is surprising, as cutting support for Windows 7 and 8.1 on future PCs could adversely affect sales.

"Going forward, as new silicon generations are introduced, they will require the latest Windows platform at that time for support," the blog post reads.

According to Microsoft, Windows 10 will be the only supported operating system for the next generation of processors from Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm. Anyone who wants to use Windows 7 or 8 will not be able to when the new chipsets start rolling out.

The announcement, fronted by Terry Myerson, the head of Windows and Devices at Microsoft, is unusual for the company and highlights just how much it wants Windows 10 to be a success. The company recently confirmed that Windows 10 had hit 200 million users, around one fifth of the one billion goal.

Myerson stressed that Microsoft was aiming to be transparent with its enterprise customers who, when the new chipsets become available, will be shepherded onto Windows 10. Traditionally, the upgrade path from one version of Windows to another is a much longer period of time.