Microsoft’s support for Version 1607 ended in April 2018 (for Home/Pro) and April 2019 (for Enterprise/LTSC). This means no security updates come with this version if you stop there. However, installing this version allows you to immediately run Windows Update to upgrade to a newer, supported version (e.g., 22H2) that also works with Photoshop.
Here’s a concise, shareable post you can use (e.g., forum, social, or comment) to help users needing the Windows 10 Anniversary Update (version 1607) link for Adobe Photoshop: Microsoft’s support for Version 1607 ended in April
To understand the friction, we have to look back. Windows 10 was released in July 2015. One year later, in August 2016, Microsoft rolled out the "Anniversary Update," officially designated as Version 1607. Here’s a concise, shareable post you can use (e
This means that every copy of Photoshop running today—even on Windows 11—is technically standing on the shoulders of that 2016 update. Microsoft never removed or changed those specific GDI calls, because Adobe threatened to break compatibility forever. This means that every copy of Photoshop running
If you try to run modern Photoshop on Windows 10 version 1511 (the "November Update"), the brush tool lags by 200ms, the pen pressure fails, and the layer thumbnails render as corrupted green squares. Adobe realized it was cheaper to hard-block the install than to support Microsoft's broken legacy code.
Note: Newer versions of Photoshop (2020, 2021, 2022, and beyond) require even newer versions of Windows 10 (typically version 1909 or later). If you are seeing this specific "1607" error, you are likely trying to install the CC 2018 or CC 2019 release.