Time to make Windows 10 as *minimum* supported on Windows platforms

EVE Technology and Research Center Player Features & Ideas
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Time to make Windows 10 as minimum supported on Windows platform.

Microsoft has made Windows 10 a free upgrade for prior versions of Windows.

Many games now are only W10 minimum.

W7 and W8/8.1 is going the way of XP. They are at end of life.

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Windows 7, 8, 8.1 started dying in 2015.

It’s game over for those versions.

W10 will hold out a few years like W7 did once W11 is out then take the same decline.

No sane developer is going to jump to support those platforms unless they get paid a lot.

Linux or W10+ or Mac. I think it is crunch time to pick a replacement if you don’t have a special need for specific software, suitable for that version. For new software, imo it is a waste of effort. User count is declining.

Windows 7 (Released Oct 22, 2009, mainstream end of life Jan 13, 2015)
Windows 8 (Released Oct 30, 2012, extended end of life Jan 12, 2016)
Windows 8.1 (Released Nov 13, 2013, mainstream end of life, Jan 9, 2018)

Same goes for DirectX 9 (released 2002, last updated 2008).

Patch Tuesday, Exploit Wednesday. They just diff the patches to discover the exploit. Plus, architectures change and it becomes old technical baggage. Your problems will only get worse and cost in effort and time for keeping it running higher. Everytime you file bugs on software, you are probably going to get the standard response of we won’t support it anymore. This also impacts tools and API’s you consume as developers once they stop supporting those end of life platforms.

I think it is time to put the technical and support baggage out.

Linux market share is increasing and support increasing, W7/8/8.1 market share is decreasing and end of life. Linux will be a bigger market share than these old Windows platform versions.

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I personally like Windows 7 for many reasons.

I would like to see it continued to be supported as long as enough people are still using it.

Market shares show how many are sold (with new computers mostly) - does not directly show how much of each version is actually being used, or downgraded.

PS - It’s not just about software. Hardware counts too. The free Win10 upgrade did not come with a free computer to support it. Nor was it offered for all versions of Windows if you go back and check properly.

When CCP devs decide to change - fine. I’m not opposed to changes. But until then I am very happy with Win7.

Everything eventually changes. CCP changed from 32-bit to 64-bit and dropped support for previous DirectX versions. But they tried to do it in the right way and did not rush it. They gave players enough warning to prepare and transition each time. (They did not simply refer to Win upgrades dates offered which is related to MS, and has nothing to do with CCP and Eve)

Windows 7 (Released Oct 22, 2009, still happy and alive on my computer Nov, 2021)

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PS - It’s not just about software. Hardware counts too. The free Win10 upgrade did not come with a free computer to support it. Nor was it offered for all versions of Windows if you go back and check properly.

Perhaps one needs to consider changing something in their lifestyle to be able to upgrade their hardware to run modern supported software. Gaming would imo be a low priority in this scenario.

If you cannot afford hardware (which doesn’t have to be the most expensive or recent, it can run on years old hardware) to run W10, then you cannot afford to subscribe or pay a company for a luxury gaming service nevermind waste time on such non-earning activity. There is also the used secondary market for hardware cheaper.

You’re just making excuses that are easy to fix. Alternatively if you insist on sticking to old hardware, you can run Linux and Wine/Proton.

W10 can run on years old hardware. If you need drivers, stop buying niche vendor hardware that has lack luster support to begin with. Consider replacing components rather than the whole machine. You can also sell the old hardware for parts, and upgrade that way.

These Windows versions are joining XP in the scrap pile.

Any relatively recent inexpensive hardware upgrade from the past few years tech would be an improvement in a case like this.

There is also Eve Anywhere web stream gaming, but that would blow your “I can’t afford hardware to run W10” excuses out of the water wouldn’t it since it is Omega paywalled.

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My old prefab rig I had for over 10 yrs was able to upgrade to win 10. However my new prefab rig purchased last year is unable to upgrade to 11, then again I don’t want that garbage.

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However my new prefab rig purchased last year is unable to upgrade to 11, then again I don’t want that garbage.

This is about W10 as a mininum, not W11.

If you don’t want W11 garbage, time to move to Linux or Mac then. The choice is already made for you by your sentiment.

There’s still years in W10 yet, also it can run on years old hardware so all I see is excuses by W7/8/8.1 holdouts.

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I like Windows 7. It works fine on my computer. I gave my opinion that it would be good to maintain support for it as long as possible. Not forever. When CCP decides to change I’m fine with it… Very simple, and no excuses required. :slight_smile:

Win7 is still supported by the game. Lots of people are still happily using it. I will repeat that I think CCP must not rush into things too soon until they have carefully looked at it.

Rushing into changes too soon is bad for the game. Isn’t that very obvious from past patches.

I stick to my view that CCP should keep as many players as possible. The game needs it. I really think they should only drop support for older systems when it becomes necessary. No sooner.

Please don’t jump to assumptions and launch personal attacks on lifestyles and wallets.

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How many decades do you need notice to not “rush” to get off W7/8/8.1? Those versions started to die in 2015 and support by the vendor ended a few years ago.

Mininum system requirements to run W10 are similar if not the same as W8.1.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-system-requirements-6d4e9a79-66bf-7950-467c-795cf0386715

It was intentional that it could run on a lot of existing and old hardware, and even run on small form factor hardware, the free upgrade was for a reason and would not have been a success if it was not for such hardware compatibility and comparible performance if not better.

W10 is a success, see chart and super fast uptake rate. W8/8.1 couldn’t dent W7, but W10 killed W7.

I held out on W7 until no more, it became technical and support baggage. I recognise W10’s success in surprassing W7, I use Linux/BSD more now though, but W7 won’t be going anywhere but down and out.

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Windows 7 works on my computer. I think I have said it a few times. (feels like decades I have been saying it on here, hehe)

Nothing wrong with Windows 10 either. It is a good O/S certainly and has been a success in some ways. If you use Win10 and like it - cool.

But why the need to upgrade if Win7 works for me and I like it? All the software I use works on it. And Eve also works on it still. Don’t drop support for it before it is necessary.

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So your computer is lower specs then this?

Windows 10 mininum hardware spec

Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor or System on a Chip (SoC)
RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) for 32-bit or 2 GB for 64-bit
Hard drive space: 16 GB for 32-bit OS 32 GB for 64-bit OS
Graphics card: DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0 driver
Display: 800x600

Windows 10 has lower hardware spec requirement than Eve Online requires as a mininum.

Eve Online mininum hardware spec

Processor Intel Dual Core @ 2.0 GHz, AMD Dual Core @ 2.0 GHz Intel i7-7700 or AMD Ryzen 7 1700 @ 3.6 GHz or greater
Graphics AMD Radeon 2600 XT or NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS or better with at least 256 MB VRAM NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1060, AMD Radeon RX 580 or better with at least 4 GB VRAM
Memory 4 GB
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Eve won’t work on the system you listed. I’m not buying that specific computer from you. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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Well you originally argued you didn’t get free hardware to run it, but if you can run Eve online on hardware you can more likely than not also run Windows 10 as it requires less hardware requirements. Your argument doesn’t hold. Windows 10 isn’t Vista (or Windows 11).

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still trying to push for that linux support? its not going to happen.

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That’s not what I am discussing here (and not even in a stealthy way), that’s a separate topic, and more closely related to Mac native than Windows, but I do think it’s time to raise the mininum bar to Windows 10 for Windows platforms. It is the proverbial Elephant in the room w.r.t Windows gaming. Many games companies have already set the mininum to W10.

If it wasn’t a free upgrade and not widely compatible, which it was/is, then I can get the counter argument.

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“upgrade” is a strong word.

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What is the purpose of this thread? Another opportunity to tell the world about Linux?

Oh I guess it is.

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That is an observation on trend, and a correct one at that. That does not make it a stealthy “support Linux” thread, which this is not.

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Yes, but ‘market share’ is not the only consideration for CCP when they need to pick a minimum supported platform. You wrongfully make it sound like it is, in an attempt to yet again make yet another thread about how you think Linux is better.

It’s tiring, really.

When considering minimum specs for your game it makes sense to keep in mind what people have been using the past 17 years to play your game.

Your ‘market share’ idea completely ignores that aspect.

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Pretty sure I have been focusing on Windows the whole time in this thread. It is you whom are trying to derail it.

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Actually it also comes down to the support they get from the technology and toolchain, nobody in their sane mind is going to continue to pump time and effort into an end of life platform.

Once the cost of maintaining W7/8/8.1 comes higher, the toolchain developers dump it.

If you’re going to call MSDN support for help, forget it. Even extended life is over for W7. That means even if you pay them the extended life support, you’re out of luck, it’s game over.

Why pay that when the installation base is heading to zero. Microsoft even killed paid extended support life.

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It’s much easier to continue maintaining support for your old platform than it is to start new support for a new platform.

If nothing breaks, they won’t even have to ‘pump time’ into it at all!

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