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Why build with XP toolset?


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I'm just getting started in setting up a build environment on Windows, but I've got a nagging question that I couldn't find an answer to in the wiki or forum after some searching - 

Why is the project still being built with a Windows XP-compatible toolset if support for XP was dropped (due to spidermonkey)? Is it just a matter of nobody prioritizing moving off the toolset or is there some more subtle reason? 

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44 minutes ago, stephenjust said:

Why is the project still being built with a Windows XP-compatible toolset if support for XP was dropped (due to spidermonkey)? Is it just a matter of nobody prioritizing moving off the toolset or is there some more subtle reason? 

It's basically that. It requires rebuilding all the libraries one by one and we did not do that yet.

I also do not know the consequences of not using it. Will it still work on W7 for example.

Then there is the CI to update too.

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1 hour ago, hyperion said:

It's unlikely that a newer toolset causes issues. C linkage is rather stable. Just take it as a well tested setup. If a newer toolset or Visual Studio causes problems reports are certainly welcome.

I'm talking about compatibility issues, and SDK problems, what do we use 7.0, 8.1, 10.***(Win10) 10.22000+(Win11) I have no idea what works on which version of Windows

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1 minute ago, Stan` said:

I'm talking about compatibility issues, and SDK problems, what do we use 7.0, 8.1, 10.***(Win10) 10.22000+(Win11) I have no idea what works on which version of Windows

Sure for release and CI builds anything newer then windows 7 sdk isn't an option, just meant to say if you build for yourself choose what you like.

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Per Latest supported Visual C++ Redistributable downloads | Microsoft Learn at least, platform toolset v143 (from VS2022) is still compatible with Windows Vista and newer, and per Which SDK do I need to ensure Windows 7 compatibility in Visual Studio C++ 2017 - Stack Overflow, the Windows 10 SDK can still build apps for Windows 7 given the right compiler flags - so it at least sounds like an appropriately motivated individual could upgrade the code / build system without losing compatibility (and unblock use of newer language features).

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14 hours ago, stephenjust said:

Per Latest supported Visual C++ Redistributable downloads | Microsoft Learn at least, platform toolset v143 (from VS2022) is still compatible with Windows Vista and newer, and per Which SDK do I need to ensure Windows 7 compatibility in Visual Studio C++ 2017 - Stack Overflow, the Windows 10 SDK can still build apps for Windows 7 given the right compiler flags - so it at least sounds like an appropriately motivated individual could upgrade the code / build system without losing compatibility (and unblock use of newer language features).

Are you that person ? :)

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On 28/01/2023 at 6:00 AM, stephenjust said:

the Windows 10 SDK can still build apps for Windows 7 given the right compiler flags

Are you sure those flags survive any and all of those creative hacks cross platform software developers came up with to work around quirkiness in windows headers.

Even if building with an w10 sdk would under circumstances produce binaries that work I see no reason to not use an w7 or older sdk for CI.

 

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For what it's worth, it was very easy for me to get the game built and running on the v141 toolset in VS2017 (which references the Windows 8.1 SDK), with defines to support Windows 7. The binary dependencies in SVN don't even need to be recompiled, I just had to remove two XP-toolset-related workarounds.

v141-toolset.patch

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