"Blizzard Games Will Stop Working on Older Windows Versions"

[Cosmic Janitor]

As long as it's just the new stuff.. I can totally understand any software dev (even filfthy rich ones like Blizzard) wanting to drop support for old ass shit like ME, XP, Vista. 7 though they should keep supporting, it's still way too widespread (I have 10 already).

I wouldn't have put it past blizzard if they had suddenly decided they need to force some patch on everyone who plays their old games though .

[Nevcairiel]

Like the vast majority of people actually - Win10 is barely half the market share of 7.

If you take the overall marketshare that may be correct, however a huge portion of that is companies, not individuals.

If you take a gaming statistic, the numbers look quite a bit different, say, for example from Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/

[RadmaKanow]

I know many won't be hindered by this. It was just strange that they aren't just stopping support for older OS's, the games just won't run anymore. Probably a reason, but just seems harsh.

Time is money, friend. As any Goblin says. Keeping program up to date for various OSes takes time and money. By cutting a part they save both time and money. That's one reason.

Other may be security issues. Since majority of people are plain dumb they need to be protected from themselves. By forcing some security measures onto them. Cutting out support for the oldest versions of game prevents access from those versions. This means any future bugs, exploits and similar won't affect game as a whole, as well your account. With Blizz focused on W7 and up only.

[Nico3337]

Well considering Windows 7 Usage share is at 49% I highly doubt it's down to just stubbornness.

Also again £100 is a lot to some people.

They either chose to not take the free upgrade to Windows 10, or bought the old Windows version with their new pc. That is stubborness

[Eleccybubb]

They either chose to not take the free upgrade to Windows 10, or bought the old Windows version with their new pc. That is stubborness

New PCs come pre installed with Windows 10 so I extremely doubt 49% of users bought Windows 7 to replace 10. Considering that full retail copies are rare to come by these days then the only real option is an OEM.

And again it's not stubborn to stay on something if it's working fine for you. Windows 7 is still supported for 3 more years. While I'm on 10 I have 7 on dual boot because it can run a few things 10 cannot even with Compatibility Mode.

But sure let's keep calling the majority of users on 7 "stubborn". Let's not take into account the amount of people who don't use a PC for gaming and just general, home or business use in that 49%.

If anything people dumping on 7 like it's a crime to use it is stubborn. Which has been shown in this thread.

[haxartus]

My main Windows is 7. Why ? Well, Windows 10 Pro is horrible.

I'd really like it if the bloatware (Candy Crush), the impossible to disable telemetry, the adds and the forced updates were limited to the Home version. After all, the Pro users were supposed to be people who have some idea how to run their PC.
But no, Pro and Home share the bloatware, the same user limitations and everything else that is horrible about the OS.

If you want the control you previously had with Windows 7 or 8, you need to use Windows 10 Enterprise or Windows 2016 Server, which give you full control via Group Policy. But these versions are not only not free, but very difficult to get for home users.

[Akka]

My main Windows is 7. Why ? Well, Windows 10 Pro is horrible.

I'd really like it if the bloatware (Candy Crush), the impossible to disable telemetry, the adds and the forced updates were limited to the Home version.

This, plus a few incompatibilities with some games, are the reasons why I went back from 10 to 7.
10 would be a very good OS without these problems, but Microsoft couldn't help but shit the product with them.

[chronia]

New PCs come pre installed with Windows 10 so I extremely doubt 49% of users bought Windows 7 to replace 10. Considering that full retail copies are rare to come by these days then the only real option is an OEM.

Alot of those aree free upgrades ofcourse, and new bought machines. Windows 10 Retail is not hard to come by though atleast here (i dont know where you are from) but nearly every webshop here has retail copies here either boxed with a USB key or Digital download, or just buy it from MS themselves: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/stor...o-051717-en_US

And again it's not stubborn to stay on something if it's working fine for you. Windows 7 is still supported for 3 more years. While I'm on 10 I have 7 on dual boot because it can run a few things 10 cannot even with Compatibility Mode.

I wouldn't call it stubborn, but esp if you are a business you should atleast already be looking at moving to Windows 10 and possibly even testing it out to see if you can make the change. I've guided companies trough XP > Win 7 migrations and alot of them started way to late with the prep. Depending on the number of systems in the company, the software used, etc projects like this can last up to 2-3 years from the first meeting to the point where all systems are upgraded / replaces and all software working as it should on the new platform.

Home users usually have it a bit easier, just buy a new system or upgrade the current one right before support on the current OS end.

My main Windows is 7. Why ? Well, Windows 10 Pro is horrible.

I'd really like it if the bloatware (Candy Crush), the impossible to disable telemetry, the adds and the forced updates were limited to the Home version. After all, the Pro users were supposed to be people who have some idea how to run their PC.
But no, Pro and Home share the bloatware, the same user limitations and everything else that is horrible about the OS.

Don't forget they also patched alot of the telemetry into Windows 7 now, and the bloatware you can just remove if you want.

For example Candy Crush: Open Powershell, then Get-AppxPackage -Name king.com.CandyCrushSaga and then Remove-AppxPackage king.com.CandyCrushSaga_<type here what the previous command gave as version number>

This goes for nearly all preinstalled stuff.

If you want the control you previously had with Windows 7 or 8, you need to use Windows 10 Enterprise or Windows 2016 Server, which give you full control via Group Policy. But these versions are not only not free, but very difficult to get for home users.

Enterprise should be pretty accessible these days if your willing to pay for it as its available now as a per user subscription for like 5-6 dollar a month, and you only need one subscription to start off with.

[chubbybunny]

So it looks like i'll have to upgrade from windows 3.11 to something a bit better then

[Benomatic]

I modified my PC, complete overhaul. Replaced Vista with Win10 and it's the best thing I had done for it.

People complaining that Blizzard are no longer dedicating resources to 10/15 year old systems need to realise that Blizzard are moving on and focusing on the now and the future. People should do to.

[Eleccybubb]

-snip

Was referring to retail copies of 7. Specifically full retail ones. OEM's I'm not sure of since I don't use those personally.

[haxartus]

and the bloatware you can just remove if you want.

For example Candy Crush: Open Powershell, then Get-AppxPackage -Name king.com.CandyCrushSaga and then Remove-AppxPackage king.com.CandyCrushSaga_<type here what the previous command gave as version number>

Yeah and I can block telemetry domains and things like that. And they are going to reset all of this after the next major update.
I'm not going to fight the OS for control over my computer. I'm just not in the target audience for Windows 10 Home/Pro.

[Phlegethon]

I know many won't be hindered by this. It was just strange that they aren't just stopping support for older OS's, the games just won't run anymore. Probably a reason, but just seems harsh.

How many people get hacked?
That's the reason.

[chronia]

Was referring to retail copies of 7. Specifically full retail ones. OEM's I'm not sure of since I don't use those personally.

I don't think MS is shipping either anymore themselves and OEM's like HP / Dell are not allowed to ship Windows 7 anymore afaik. The only way i know to get the licenses now is either old stock, volume licensing for business (you buy Windows 10 in the contract, but you are allowed to downgrade to 8.1 or 7, keys for that will be supplied on the volume license service center website) or illegal means.

[Lahis]

I have W10 on my laptop and Surface.

Windows 7 on my gaming machine.

I see no reason to switch to W10 on the desktop tower. Especially now that it would cost me hundreds of euros.

[rad586]

People saying Windows 10 is the best are making me laugh so hard my sides hurt.

You think forced updates in the middle of online gaming are better ?
You think half the hardware not working due to lack of drivers is better ?
You think PC waking up from hibernation in the middle of the night to install updates and not go into hibernation again is better ?

I got burned by Windows 10. Hard. Especially when half the programs including Windows Edge VANISHED after one update. Together with bottom toolbar not working at all. All I did before that happened was browse through the same web pages I did previously on Win7 and play WoW.

I will stay on Windows 7 as long as it will be supported by majority of software, hardware and games.

[Zenny]

I have W10 on my laptop and Surface.

Windows 7 on my gaming machine.

I see no reason to switch to W10 on the desktop tower. Especially now that it would cost me hundreds of euros.

It won't, you can still get Windows 10 for free with the accessibility upgrade.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/acce...ndows10upgrade

Even if you don't use assistive programs, you can still upgrade, it's not like they check or anything.

[Lahis]

I imagine a very small percentage of gamers are actually using Vista or XP, so not really a big deal for the WoW community.

http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/

Windows has 96.24 % market share, and

51.23% is Windows 10.
36.14% Windows 7.
7.96% Windows 8(.1)
0.76% Windows XP
0.07% Windows Vista

Dropping Vista and XP support really is non issue for gamers. Goverments will be/are in trouble though :P

- - - Updated - - -

It won't, you can still get Windows 10 for free with the accessibility upgrade.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/acce...ndows10upgrade

Even if you don't use assistive programs, you can still upgrade, it's not like they check or anything.

And what version is that? I have 7 Ultimate, doesn't make much sense to "upgrade" to the restricted lower tier versions of W10.

[Zenny]

And what version is that? I have 7 Pro, doesn't make much sense to "upgrade" to the restricted lower tier versions of W10.

It will upgrade you to pro, and yes I have tested it.

[TheDeeGee]

Good stuff!

I use Windows 10 Pro for nearly a year now, runs smooth as butter!