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Windows XP support ending in Rainmeter

Changes made during the Rainmeter 4.0 beta cycle.
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jsmorley
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Windows XP support ending in Rainmeter

Post by jsmorley »

The 4.0 version of Rainmeter, which we expect to start in a beta cycle in the coming weeks, will no longer support Windows XP or Windows Vista.

There are interesting and useful new features we want to add to Rainmeter, and many of these will require that the system support D2D (Direct2D) version 1.1. This graphical library will only work in Windows version 7 with the SP1 service pack and Platform Update installed, or later.

There are already several features in Rainmeter that require Windows 7 or later, such as the InlineSetting options on String meters. We no longer feel it is a good path to have features in Rainmeter that are available to some user and not others, and we increasingly are unhappy about "holding back" or "complicating" Rainmeter development simply to support an operating system that even Microsoft has washed its hands of.

So starting with the first beta version of Rainmeter 4.0, the following will the support for Windows versions:

Windows 7
- With Service Pack 1 and the Platform Update applied via Windows Update. This is normally automatic and happened years ago as long as you have Windows Update turned on, but if you do not, you may have to get and install those specific updates from the links above.

Windows 8
Windows 8.1
Windows 10

If you absolutely want to, or for some reason absolutely must, stay on Windows XP or Vista (really??), or won't or can't update your Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 and the Platform Update on your computer, you will need to just stay with Rainmeter 3.3 Final Release. We will be sure that Rainmeter 3.3 stays available for download in the future. Be aware however, that many new skins created going forward will not install from .rmskin or work correctly on your system.
Crest
Posts: 113
Joined: August 16th, 2013, 12:47 pm

Re: Windows XP support ending in Rainmeter

Post by Crest »

I would hope that no one who this affects was reading this on XP... With system updates having ended almost two years ago.

That said I've always been extremely fond of XP, as it was arguably the most customizable of their OSes. I'll miss the toolbar skins, countless and unique visual themes, and native UI customizable that has now been removed in favor of generic defaults.
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raiguard
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Re: Windows XP support ending in Rainmeter

Post by raiguard »

It's about time. Maybe this change will finally coerce some of them to upgrade! Looking forward to seeing what's to come!
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