: Some specialized devices, like the Cintiq Companion 2, faced "time-locks" where they could not be updated to newer OS versions, rendering them unable to run the latest Photoshop releases. Evolutionary Timeline
If you are encountering this message, you cannot install the newer versions of Photoshop without updating Windows. : Some specialized devices, like the Cintiq Companion
Conclusion Requiring Windows 10 Anniversary Update (version 1607) is a practical signal: Photoshop depends on platform capabilities, driver stability, security guarantees, and runtime behaviors that became reliable at that point. The requirement reflects the complexity of delivering a high-performance, secure, extensible creative application across a fragmented ecosystem. For users and IT teams it is both a prompt to upgrade and a reassurance that Adobe has a tested baseline; for developers it is a pragmatic constraint that enables better features, fewer platform-specific bugs, and more predictable performance. In the end, such requirements are less arbitrary barriers than expressions of the tight coupling between leading-edge creative software and the underlying operating system that must host it. The requirement reflects the complexity of delivering a
Do not try to hack the installer to bypass this check. If you force the installation on older builds, Photoshop will crash immediately upon attempting to use the Move tool or a brush. Respect the system requirements—once you update, you will enjoy a faster, more stable, and crash-free Photoshop experience. Do not try to hack the installer to bypass this check
A: No. Modern Photoshop simply refuses to install on Windows 7 entirely. The "Version 1607" error specifically implies you are on Windows 10, just an old version of it.