Rockstar Games have ended support for Windows 7 and 8 across their titles. The company announced this decision back in October 2023 but has come into effect as of Tuesday 30th January.
We’re talking about purchasing a software that relies on an online component to work and then deciding to keep using an OS that isn’t safe when connected to the internet.
Extended support ended a year ago for both OS and that’s for people who paid for it. How many of the people affected bought the extended support do you reckon? Because those who didn’t have been without a security update for four years now!
Old OSes aren’t inherently unsafe though. You can safely use XP online if you know what you’re doing. You literally just have to be a bit more careful about what you download and where. Thankfully with places like archive.org it’s much easier to not have to go to the dodgy download sites of old to get your abandonware and whatnot.
If you’re still on 7 it’s because 10 is a frustrating mess of spyware, failed tablet schemes, and surprise forced updates. The free invitation to an aggressive downgrade was not a positive. My 7 machine installed a new goddamn operating system by itself at the peak of “10 is free!!!” malvertising, and the first thing I did was change it the fuck back.
If you’re still on 7 it’s because 10 is a frustrating mess of spyware, failed tablet schemes, and surprise forced updates
If you’re still on 7 it’s because you’re dumb. Move to 10, buy a Mac, switch to Linux, whatever. There’s no valid reason to stay on an unsupported OS on a goddamn gaming rig.
Still - switch to Linux already.
Ubuntu 9.04 released the same year as win 7. It was supported for 5 years, vs win 7’s 14 years. Yet you don’t see anyone removed and moaning that third party devs aren’t supporting it anymore. Strange, huh?
Support’s not the issue - functional software was just yanked away. This game worked fine last week. Up-to-date and everything! Do these people get the choice to stick with that version? Do they fuck.
Nevermind that as long as your OS works for gaming, that is in fact a valid reason to keep using it on a goddamn gaming rig. Y’know. For gaming? Which it worked for? Until just now? It’s obviously not the best decision, but you can stop pretending there’s no reason to stick with the last properly good version of Windows. Cons outweighing the pros doesn’t magically mean there are no pros.
I’m not arguing that 7 or 8 should be someone’s daily driver but if someone wanted to use 7 or 8 for specific games because they have nostalgia of running them on those specific OSs then they’re shit out of luck unless they want to get weird with it (like I currently do for some games on XP and Vista currently on my secondary PC).
That’s a very narrow edge case that only applies to hobbyists. Luckily, those are exactly the sort of people who have the time and motivation to figure out how to get this working. It’s not like being unable to play gta4 on a 15 year old machine is going to negatively affect your life, if you want to play it that bad use a modern machine.
Hey fair enough, it’s complicated to keep updating for old platforms, and I’m sure those diehards will be fine with the versions that run right now.
Fuck right off, you thieving bastards.
You buy games that rely on an online component to run? You deserve what’s coming for you at this point.
Nobody deserves to be abused for buying software.
Tell me ‘it’s not buuuying’ and this will cease to be a polite interaction.
Abused?
We’re talking about purchasing a software that relies on an online component to work and then deciding to keep using an OS that isn’t safe when connected to the internet.
Extended support ended a year ago for both OS and that’s for people who paid for it. How many of the people affected bought the extended support do you reckon? Because those who didn’t have been without a security update for four years now!
Pulling bad takes out of a hat is neither relevant nor interesting.
Shoo.
Bad takes? If it’s so bad you’ll have an actual rebuttal, right?
“This is plainly irrelevant.”
“Then you must have a response!”
Wrong.
Thing is, it’s not irrelevant?
“People deserve to get fucked by DRM.”
“No.”
“But what about their operating system?!”
This is trolling.
I’m not interested.
Old OSes aren’t inherently unsafe though. You can safely use XP online if you know what you’re doing. You literally just have to be a bit more careful about what you download and where. Thankfully with places like archive.org it’s much easier to not have to go to the dodgy download sites of old to get your abandonware and whatnot.
Win 10 was a free upgrade for what, 4 years? If you’re still on 7 you asked for this.
If you’re still on 7 it’s because 10 is a frustrating mess of spyware, failed tablet schemes, and surprise forced updates. The free invitation to an aggressive downgrade was not a positive. My 7 machine installed a new goddamn operating system by itself at the peak of “10 is free!!!” malvertising, and the first thing I did was change it the fuck back.
Still - switch to Linux already.
If you’re still on 7 it’s because you’re dumb. Move to 10, buy a Mac, switch to Linux, whatever. There’s no valid reason to stay on an unsupported OS on a goddamn gaming rig.
Ubuntu 9.04 released the same year as win 7. It was supported for 5 years, vs win 7’s 14 years. Yet you don’t see anyone removed and moaning that third party devs aren’t supporting it anymore. Strange, huh?
Support’s not the issue - functional software was just yanked away. This game worked fine last week. Up-to-date and everything! Do these people get the choice to stick with that version? Do they fuck.
Nevermind that as long as your OS works for gaming, that is in fact a valid reason to keep using it on a goddamn gaming rig. Y’know. For gaming? Which it worked for? Until just now? It’s obviously not the best decision, but you can stop pretending there’s no reason to stick with the last properly good version of Windows. Cons outweighing the pros doesn’t magically mean there are no pros.
I’m not arguing that 7 or 8 should be someone’s daily driver but if someone wanted to use 7 or 8 for specific games because they have nostalgia of running them on those specific OSs then they’re shit out of luck unless they want to get weird with it (like I currently do for some games on XP and Vista currently on my secondary PC).
That’s a very narrow edge case that only applies to hobbyists. Luckily, those are exactly the sort of people who have the time and motivation to figure out how to get this working. It’s not like being unable to play gta4 on a 15 year old machine is going to negatively affect your life, if you want to play it that bad use a modern machine.
Fair enough. I still think it sucks when companies do this though.
This also gives the purchaser the moral obligation to pirate the game(s) and crack them wide open