I booted up my very old Windows XP Pro. SP3 this morning...

.... It was weird/odd to reuse my very old OS that I haven't touched for
years again. I was there to uninstall two old computer games (Call of
Duty 4 & World in Conflict) to free up precious disk space due to my
dual OS setup. Oh and Malwarebytes' AntiMalware and SpyBot S&D still get
updates when I manually checked! :O

--
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COVID-19/2019-nCoV/SARS-CoV-2), deaths (RIP), interruptions, stresses,
heat waves, fires, out(r)ages, dramas, unlucky #4, 2020, greeds, bugs
(e.g., crashes & female mosquitoes), etc. Note: A fixed width font
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/ /\ /\ \ http://antfarm.ma.cx. Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
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On Tue, 11 Aug 2020 21:07:22 -0500, NT (Ant) wrote:

... It was weird/odd to reuse my very old OS that I haven't touched for
years again. I was there to uninstall two old computer games (Call of
Duty 4 & World in Conflict) to free up precious disk space due to my
dual OS setup. Oh and Malwarebytes' AntiMalware and SpyBot S&D still get
updates when I manually checked! :O

XP remains a capable OS, and so long as you practice safe-computing
with it (which largely means, in this case, stay off the Internet!),
it runs fine. And while its Fisher Price interface is garish, it's
still far more usable than Microsoft's more recent attempts.

My biggest complaint is that not only doesn't Valve support the OS,
they actively prevent you from running Steam on it. While I can
understand their reasoning (largely to do with cutting support and
development costs), it is troubling. There are some games sold on
Steam that will not run on Windows 7/8/10, and - thanks to Valve's
actions - those games can no longer be played at all.

Then again, the primary purpose of my remaining XP game is to play my
games that use optical-media and copy-protection schemes (hello
Starforce!) that I don't want anywhere near my main PCs.

"Spalls Hurgenson" wrote

|
| XP remains a capable OS, and so long as you practice safe-computing
| with it (which largely means, in this case, stay off the Internet!),

Which I just read on the Internet, running XP. I also
run Win7 on the Internet, but I wouldn't use that for
anything critical. It's too hard to control.... Oh, and I
don't install crap like MalwareBytes or AV. I just use a HOSTS
file and almost always turn off javascript in the browser.
Nearly all online attacks require javascript. You can't make
any computer safe if you run it. There's no such thing as safe
executable code.

| And while its Fisher Price interface is garish, it's
| still far more usable than Microsoft's more recent attempts.
|

Why would you use that? I'm running classic UI in both
XP and 7. That's always the first thing I do. Simpler. cleaner.
And wastes a lot less resources. The XP version is actually
done with bitmaps that have to be continually painted. The
Vista/7 semi-transparent Aero is such a pig that it required
newer hardware when it came out. That's what the Intel
915 chip fiasco was all about.

| My biggest complaint is that not only doesn't Valve support the OS,
| they actively prevent you from running Steam on it.

I don't use games, but I'm guessing that's a DirectX issue.
Games compete to use the very latest technology, in order to
get the most realistic action. The most realistic womens' hair and
nipples; the most realistic bleeding arm; the most realistic
explosions. If that's what you want then you just have to
always buy the newest, most expensive computers.

In comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
On Tue, 11 Aug 2020 21:07:22 -0500, NT (Ant) wrote:

... It was weird/odd to reuse my very old OS that I haven't touched for
years again. I was there to uninstall two old computer games (Call of
Duty 4 & World in Conflict) to free up precious disk space due to my
dual OS setup. Oh and Malwarebytes' AntiMalware and SpyBot S&D still get
updates when I manually checked! :O

XP remains a capable OS, and so long as you practice safe-computing
with it (which largely means, in this case, stay off the Internet!),
it runs fine. And while its Fisher Price interface is garish, it's
still far more usable than Microsoft's more recent attempts.

Yeah, but online gaming with these old games need Internet. :P I use the
silver default theme in Windows XP.


My biggest complaint is that not only doesn't Valve support the OS,
they actively prevent you from running Steam on it. While I can
understand their reasoning (largely to do with cutting support and
development costs), it is troubling. There are some games sold on
Steam that will not run on Windows 7/8/10, and - thanks to Valve's
actions - those games can no longer be played at all.

Yeah, so annoying. DRM FTL. This is why I still prefer games that don't
need to be online.

Then again, the primary purpose of my remaining XP game is to play my
games that use optical-media and copy-protection schemes (hello
Starforce!) that I don't want anywhere near my main PCs.

Yes!
--
Life's so loco! ..!.. *isms, sins, hates, (d)evil, illnesses (e.g., COVID-19/2019-nCoV/SARS-CoV-2), deaths (RIP), interruptions, stresses, heat waves, fires, out(r)ages, dramas, unlucky #4, 2020, greeds, bugs (e.g., crashes & female mosquitoes), etc.
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On Wed, 12 Aug 2020 09:15:54 -0400, "Mayayana"
wrote:
"Spalls Hurgenson" wrote

| My biggest complaint is that not only doesn't Valve support the OS,
| they actively prevent you from running Steam on it.

I don't use games, but I'm guessing that's a DirectX issue.
No, my understanding is that it is a Chrome issue. Steam uses Chrome
to render its pages, and there's no XP support for Chrome anymore.
Rather than pay developers to backport the Chrome browser technology
to work on XP, they just dropped the OS.

Of course, some *games* won't run on XP - for a variety of reasons,
including its limited DirectX support - but that is a different issue.
I really don't expect "Horizon Zero Dawn", released to PC 18 years
after XP was developed and six years after Microsoft stopped
supporting it, to run on that OS. However, not being able to play a
game from 2005 - one designed for the OS - simply because its gated by
Steam is somewhat annoying.

In comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
On Wed, 12 Aug 2020 09:15:54 -0400, "Mayayana"
wrote:
"Spalls Hurgenson" wrote

| My biggest complaint is that not only doesn't Valve support the OS,
| they actively prevent you from running Steam on it.

I don't use games, but I'm guessing that's a DirectX issue.
No, my understanding is that it is a Chrome issue. Steam uses Chrome
to render its pages, and there's no XP support for Chrome anymore.
Rather than pay developers to backport the Chrome browser technology
to work on XP, they just dropped the OS.

Of course, some *games* won't run on XP - for a variety of reasons,
including its limited DirectX support - but that is a different issue.
I really don't expect "Horizon Zero Dawn", released to PC 18 years
after XP was developed and six years after Microsoft stopped
supporting it, to run on that OS. However, not being able to play a
game from 2005 - one designed for the OS - simply because its gated by
Steam is somewhat annoying.

Wait. So people with old computer games that ran in XP can't play from Steam
anymore? That sucks.

--
Life's so loco! ..!.. *isms, sins, hates, (d)evil, illnesses (e.g., COVID-19/2019-nCoV/SARS-CoV-2), deaths (RIP), interruptions, stresses, heat waves, fires, out(r)ages, dramas, unlucky #4, 2020, greeds, bugs (e.g., crashes & female mosquitoes), etc.
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org /
/ /\ /\ \ http://antfarm.ma.cx. Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
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On 8/13/2020 1:42 PM, Ant wrote:
In comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
On Wed, 12 Aug 2020 09:15:54 -0400, "Mayayana"
wrote:
"Spalls Hurgenson" wrote

| My biggest complaint is that not only doesn't Valve support the OS,
| they actively prevent you from running Steam on it.

I don't use games, but I'm guessing that's a DirectX issue.
No, my understanding is that it is a Chrome issue. Steam uses Chrome
to render its pages, and there's no XP support for Chrome anymore.
Rather than pay developers to backport the Chrome browser technology
to work on XP, they just dropped the OS.

Of course, some *games* won't run on XP - for a variety of reasons,
including its limited DirectX support - but that is a different issue.
I really don't expect "Horizon Zero Dawn", released to PC 18 years
after XP was developed and six years after Microsoft stopped
supporting it, to run on that OS. However, not being able to play a
game from 2005 - one designed for the OS - simply because its gated by
Steam is somewhat annoying.

Wait. So people with old computer games that ran in XP can't play from Steam
anymore? That sucks.

GOG! GOG! GOG! GOG! GOG! GOG!

--
to be filled in at a later date

In comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action Dimensional Traveler wrote:
On 8/13/2020 1:42 PM, Ant wrote:
In comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
On Wed, 12 Aug 2020 09:15:54 -0400, "Mayayana"
wrote:
"Spalls Hurgenson" wrote

| My biggest complaint is that not only doesn't Valve support the OS,
| they actively prevent you from running Steam on it.

I don't use games, but I'm guessing that's a DirectX issue.
No, my understanding is that it is a Chrome issue. Steam uses Chrome
to render its pages, and there's no XP support for Chrome anymore.
Rather than pay developers to backport the Chrome browser technology
to work on XP, they just dropped the OS.

Of course, some *games* won't run on XP - for a variety of reasons,
including its limited DirectX support - but that is a different issue.
I really don't expect "Horizon Zero Dawn", released to PC 18 years
after XP was developed and six years after Microsoft stopped
supporting it, to run on that OS. However, not being able to play a
game from 2005 - one designed for the OS - simply because its gated by
Steam is somewhat annoying.

Wait. So people with old computer games that ran in XP can't play from Steam
anymore? That sucks.

GOG! GOG! GOG! GOG! GOG! GOG!

GOG's Web site and not its client.
--
Life's so loco! ..!.. *isms, sins, hates, (d)evil, illnesses (e.g., COVID-19/2019-nCoV/SARS-CoV-2), deaths (RIP), interruptions, stresses, heat waves, fires, out(r)ages, dramas, unlucky #4, 2020, greeds, bugs (e.g., crashes & female mosquitoes), etc.
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org /
/ /\ /\ \ http://antfarm.ma.cx. Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
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( )