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Samsung warns users against upgrading to Windows 10

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Samsung is warning users against updating their PCs to Windows 10, as the company’s drivers aren’t up to the task.

According to Samsung’s support team, its computers’ do not fully support Microsoft’s newest operating system, which Microsoft has been pushing hard and encouraging people to update to. The advice from the Korean computer maker comes following a number of customers complaining about their Samsung computers not working after making the upgrade to Windows 10.

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The Register this week reported on the email sent by Samsung’s UK support staff to a customer. In the email, a support employee said Samsung is still coordinating with Microsoft to address the issue.

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“The Drivers that we have on our website are not yet compatible to the latest version of Windows,” the email read. “What we usually recommend is to keep the current Windows version and we’ll update you once the Windows 10 have no more issues on any Samsung laptops and computers or even monitors.”

Ever since first announcing Windows 10, Microsoft has been warning manufacturers to get their drivers in order. Despite having nearly two years to do so, Samsung still isn’t ready.

For the most part, if you are a Samsung user running Windows 8.1, you are unlikely to have any major issues with upgrading. The problem appears to arise more with users making the jump from Windows 7 to 10.

Microsoft has not commented specifically on the matter, but is advising users to check Samsung’s Windows 10 page for information on whether or not their device is compatible.

This hiccup isn’t ideal for Microsoft. The Redmond giant has been urging users to make the free upgrade to Windows 10 since it became available and the free upgrade option expires on June 29. After that you’ll need to fork over $119 to make the switch to the latest operating system.

However, Samsung probably deserves more of the blame. Drivers are the responsibility of hardware manufacturers, not Microsoft. Not providing drivers for Windows 10 does Samsung’s customers a disservice, since it means they can’t upgrade to the newest OS.

While adoption has been impressive for the most part, Microsoft has still been met with criticism over its nagging update notifications to users urging them to switch. Microsoft claims that there are more than 300 million devices globally now running Windows 10.

Jonathan Keane
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jonathan is a freelance technology journalist living in Dublin, Ireland. He's previously written for publications and sites…
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