Discontinue Windows 98 support?

[Pumaman]

Now that Microsoft has officially washed its hands of Windows 98 and has not been providing security updates or bug fixes to it since 2006, does anybody still need AGS to support it?

If your games were to stop working on Windows 98, would you care?

The reason I'm asking is that the latest version of Visual Studio (which is what I use to make AGS) no longer supports Windows 98, and so if I upgraded it would mean that AGS would no longer work on Win98 either. Would that be a problem for anyone?

[RickJ]

I stopped running the latest and greatest windows version a long time ago and so I have a WinME system that used to be my AGS machine.  I am now developing on Linux with virtual box running Win2000.  Currently I am using the WinME machine as an archival system because I am lazy and haven'tcopied all of my AGS stuff over to the linux box. yet.  When I get that done I'll proably wipe it clean and put some flavor of linux on it and continue to use it as a file server/archival system.   I am painting this picture because over the last several years it seems like I have been pretty much the only one affected by Win98 issues.  So I wouldn't be bothered much by this as my last Win98/WinMe machine is at end-of-lifecycle and is about to be recycled within a few months.

I would be surprised if anyone is still developing on a Win98/ME machine.   But I am not sure if anyone is still interested in targeting Win98 machines for the games they release as there be younger kids with old hand-me-down systems.

[Pumaman]

Thanks for your reply.

I'm quite glad that there hasn't really been any response to this thread, which seems to imply that nobody does care about Windows 98 any more.

Still, I'm just bumping it now to make sure that everyone has a chance to notice the thread rather than complaining after the event that they didn't know it was going to happen

[Disco]

I'm quite glad that there hasn't really been any response to this thread, which seems to imply that nobody does care about Windows 98 any more.

Well either that or that this thread is boring as hell 




P.S. I'm good with no support of 98. After the official updates, this would no doubt be the final nail in it's coffin :o

[Trent R]

I could care less either way.

What are your 'anonymous user statistics' reporting?


~Trent

[Pumaman]

Ok, well it's early days for the anonymous user stats because they've only been introduced in 3.1, which most people aren't using yet. Therefore these results should be taken with caution since it's quite a small sample set:

Windows XP: 74%
Windows Vista: 22%
Windows 2000: 2%
Windows Server 2003: 2%

Screen resolutions:

1024x768: 14%
1152x864: 4%
1280x1024: 28%
1280x800/960 (widescreen): 19%
1440x1050: 4%
1440x900 (widescreen): 9%
1600x1200: 4%
1680x1050 (widescreen): 16%
Higher than 1680x1050: 4%

4:3 resolutions: 56%
Widescreen resolutions: 44%

So far nobody using AGS 3.1 has been running Windows 98. That's to be expected really, but the real question is whether any potential game players might be using it.

[PixelPerfect]

win98 users are worldwide under 0,5% of all users. W3schools reports 0,2% at this point in time Link.

[Dualnames]

Go and do this Chris. Go and buy Win98.. They won't let you..

[Trent R]

I think nowadays more and more people are turning to Macs (why? I can't fathom. I can't stand the things unless I'm using Final Cut). I doubt many people will still have Win98.


~Trent

[subspark]

Windows 98? Bleh!

Windows 98 should be referenced under 'Obsolete' in the English Dictionary. Vintage...
Sparx.

[Trent R]

Windows 98? Bleh!

Windows 98 should be referenced under 'Obsolete' in the English Dictionary. Vintage...
Sparx.

Harsh. I mean think about it, Win 98 was the last OS that could play many of our favorite games without the use of emulators. I'd pay it homage for at least that.

~Trent

[subspark]

Don't get me wrong, please! Windows 98 was a masterpeice of software back in it's time. But its horsemeat today. I still remember the days when driving around in Interstate76 and lugging punches at thugs in Full Throttle. Those days have been renewed through modern software and emulation. So why turn back? Just appreciate, pack up and move on!
Cheers,
Sparx

[Dualnames]

I used to have a 300MHz pc, and hell it was better with XP. Plus it had no trouble running AGS(unless you used rawdraws). Nobody is using Win98 anymore, and if they do, they probably have problem running many programs, not to mention AGS.

[Radiant]

So far nobody using AGS 3.1 has been running Windows 98. That's to be expected really, but the real question is whether any potential game players might be using it.

That's possibly because the editor requires certain libraries that do not exist for Win98.

Pixel's statistics suggest that one in two hundred people uses Win98; that's actually more than I expected. Still, that is at least potentially some game players, which means the drawback exists. I suppose the real question then is, what the benefits are for getting the latest VC++ version instead of a slightly older one.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

I liked 98 and 95 aside from the blue screens and frequent crashes, which lessened near the end of 98's life cycle.  XP is my os of choice for the foreseeable future, and since 98 has no benefits over it (bear in mind dosbox exists for those who still want dos games) I see no harm in discontinuing support for it.  98 is still my second favorite microsoft os thus far.  Let's hope Windows 7 changes that.

[Pumaman]

That's possibly because the editor requires certain libraries that do not exist for Win98.

I don't believe that's the case, because I think RickJ was managing to run the 3.0.2 editor on Win98.  There's no libraries that it uses that I'm aware of that don't work on 98.

Pixel's statistics suggest that one in two hundred people uses Win98; that's actually more than I expected. Still, that is at least potentially some game players, which means the drawback exists. I suppose the real question then is, what the benefits are for getting the latest VC++ version instead of a slightly older one.

Yeah, as PixelPerfect quoted the figure is now below 0.5% which is less than 1 in 200 people. That is still a lot of people when you multiply it by the number of computers in the world, but I think now the time has come when it's perfectly reasonable to discontinue support for Win98.

The benefits for me of moving to the latest VC++ version are that it is 10 years newer than the version (VC6) that AGS was being compiled with, which means that it has 10 years of optimisation improvements, so in theory it should make AGS run a bit faster. Also, it's properly supported and easier to work with.

Anyway, the decision has now been made. As of AGS 3.1.1, Windows 98 will no longer be supported.
If anyone still wants their games to run on Win98, then stick with AGS 3.1 or a lower version.

[Trent R]

so in theory it should make AGS run a bit faster. Also, it's properly supported and easier to work with.

Hurrah! Hurray!

If anyone still wants their games to run on Win98, then stick with AGS 3.1 or a lower version.

Which would be fine, cause there are still a number of people sticking to 2.72 because of the interaction editor... So people are willing to keep features that they want.


~Trent

[subspark]

I beleive the right decision has been made. Theres just too much baggage to be had supporting Win98.

Cheers,
Sparx.