One of the things I really dislike about recent Microsoft operating
systems - ever since Windows 8 - is that updates have become
mandatory. Oh sure, you can put them off for a week or four, but in
the end they're going to be applied.* It's a problem because Microsoft
has repeatedly shown that their updates can be very problematic.

Case in point: a recent update to Windows 11, which has caused
numerous problems. Most reported was how it - seeing an installed
printer - detected it as an HP printer and installed an "HP Smart App"
for it... even if the printer was an Epson or Brother or whatever.**
Oops. More concernedly, a number of people have reported slow-downs
following the update (mostly AMD Ryzen owners, or people with 13th
generation+ Intel CPUs).**

And then, there's always the fun of uninstalling the cruft Microsoft
insists on reinstalling on your PC, and re-engaging all the privacy
settings.

I escaped the printer issue (my Brother remains a Brother, as far as
Windows is concerned) but the CPU hit? Yeah, I saw that; I had a 10%
performance drop... at least according to benchmarks. It wasn't
something I actually noticed in actual usage. The fix (see below)
cured the issue, but still... Microsoft ought to be embarrassed.

Microsoft these days is more interested in pushing its services than
actually creating a product people want. Windows 11 remains a
shitshow: buggy, unpolished and generally a unsatisfying experience to
use. And now even its updates - the thing intended to make it better -
are problematic.

Some days it makes me wonder why we ever left DOS...

---------------
* Well, unless you completely disconnect from the Internet... and even
then I'm not completely sure Microsoft hasn't snuck in some component
that will somehow get those updates installed. Brainwashed mice
carrying USB drives, maybe.
**
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/windows-11-installs-hp-smart-134915531.html
*** The latter is apparently fixable: for a step-by-step, visit:
https://www.pcworld.com/article/2161898/if-your-cpu-performance-fell-after-updating-windows-try-this.html

On Wednesday, December 6, 2023 at 2:42:22 PM UTC-8, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> One of the things I really dislike about recent Microsoft operating
> systems - ever since Windows 8 - is that updates have become
> mandatory. Oh sure, you can put them off for a week or four, but in
> the end they're going to be applied.* It's a problem because Microsoft
> has repeatedly shown that their updates can be very problematic.
>
> Case in point: a recent update to Windows 11, which has caused
> numerous problems. Most reported was how it - seeing an installed
> printer - detected it as an HP printer and installed an "HP Smart App"
> for it... even if the printer was an Epson or Brother or whatever.**
> Oops. More concernedly, a number of people have reported slow-downs
> following the update (mostly AMD Ryzen owners, or people with 13th
> generation+ Intel CPUs).**
>
> And then, there's always the fun of uninstalling the cruft Microsoft
> insists on reinstalling on your PC, and re-engaging all the privacy
> settings.
>
> I escaped the printer issue (my Brother remains a Brother, as far as
> Windows is concerned) but the CPU hit? Yeah, I saw that; I had a 10%
> performance drop... at least according to benchmarks. It wasn't
> something I actually noticed in actual usage. The fix (see below)
> cured the issue, but still... Microsoft ought to be embarrassed.
>
> Microsoft these days is more interested in pushing its services than
> actually creating a product people want. Windows 11 remains a
> shitshow: buggy, unpolished and generally a unsatisfying experience to
> use. And now even its updates - the thing intended to make it better -
> are problematic.
>
> Some days it makes me wonder why we ever left DOS...

I'm still on windows 10 for my gaming computer. Unless someone can
convince me it's *really* worth it, it'll stay that way as long as I can
avoid 11. We have it at work and it reminds me of Win 8.0. Now with
the 6 month feature updates which were supposed to take the place
of full versions, you get more craptastic 'features' every 6 months too.
That steam OS/deck is looking more and more tempting.

- Justisaur

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the
entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:

>
>One of the things I really dislike about recent Microsoft operating
>systems - ever since Windows 8 - is that updates have become
>mandatory. Oh sure, you can put them off for a week or four, but in
>the end they're going to be applied.* It's a problem because Microsoft
>has repeatedly shown that their updates can be very problematic.

No Windows update is mandatory if you have a 3rd party firewall.
You might not be able to lock windows in with the windows standard
firewall, but you sure as hell can with 3rd party, also stop all ads and
random windows installed "hey we'd like to sell you this so we installed
it for you to try" apps.

It is all or nothing though, you can't just stop some bad updates, you
block em all or allow them all, but since MS has a history (10 years or
so now) of putting out garbage updates, then rolling them back after a
bit, you can control _when_ they'll be installed to avoid the system
breaking ones.

>Case in point: a recent update to Windows 11, which has caused
>numerous problems. Most reported was how it - seeing an installed
>printer - detected it as an HP printer and installed an "HP Smart App"
>for it... even if the printer was an Epson or Brother or whatever.**
>Oops. More concernedly, a number of people have reported slow-downs
>following the update (mostly AMD Ryzen owners, or people with 13th
>generation+ Intel CPUs).**
>
>And then, there's always the fun of uninstalling the cruft Microsoft
>insists on reinstalling on your PC, and re-engaging all the privacy
>settings.
>
>I escaped the printer issue (my Brother remains a Brother, as far as
>Windows is concerned) but the CPU hit? Yeah, I saw that; I had a 10%
>performance drop... at least according to benchmarks. It wasn't
>something I actually noticed in actual usage. The fix (see below)
>cured the issue, but still... Microsoft ought to be embarrassed.
>
>Microsoft these days is more interested in pushing its services than
>actually creating a product people want. Windows 11 remains a
>shitshow: buggy, unpolished and generally a unsatisfying experience to
>use. And now even its updates - the thing intended to make it better -
>are problematic.

You forgot the bit where MS moved all the standard functions that used
to be logically grouped into 17 billion various locations which make no
sense, and of course the old standard "set all these file types to be
used by app x, which now have to be manually set one by one.
Someone at MS needs to be crucified then set on fire for this nonsense
as a warning to the rest.

>Some days it makes me wonder why we ever left DOS...

Cause they made us when they made Diablo a win95 exclusive.

Xocyll

On 12/6/2023 4:49 PM, Xocyll wrote:
> Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the
> entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
> say:
>
>>
>> One of the things I really dislike about recent Microsoft operating
>> systems - ever since Windows 8 - is that updates have become
>> mandatory. Oh sure, you can put them off for a week or four, but in
>> the end they're going to be applied.* It's a problem because Microsoft
>> has repeatedly shown that their updates can be very problematic.
>
> No Windows update is mandatory if you have a 3rd party firewall.
> You might not be able to lock windows in with the windows standard
> firewall, but you sure as hell can with 3rd party, also stop all ads and
> random windows installed "hey we'd like to sell you this so we installed
> it for you to try" apps.
>
> It is all or nothing though, you can't just stop some bad updates, you
> block em all or allow them all, but since MS has a history (10 years or
> so now) of putting out garbage updates, then rolling them back after a
> bit, you can control _when_ they'll be installed to avoid the system
> breaking ones.
>
>
>> Case in point: a recent update to Windows 11, which has caused
>> numerous problems. Most reported was how it - seeing an installed
>> printer - detected it as an HP printer and installed an "HP Smart App"
>> for it... even if the printer was an Epson or Brother or whatever.**
>> Oops. More concernedly, a number of people have reported slow-downs
>> following the update (mostly AMD Ryzen owners, or people with 13th
>> generation+ Intel CPUs).**
>>
>> And then, there's always the fun of uninstalling the cruft Microsoft
>> insists on reinstalling on your PC, and re-engaging all the privacy
>> settings.
>>
>> I escaped the printer issue (my Brother remains a Brother, as far as
>> Windows is concerned) but the CPU hit? Yeah, I saw that; I had a 10%
>> performance drop... at least according to benchmarks. It wasn't
>> something I actually noticed in actual usage. The fix (see below)
>> cured the issue, but still... Microsoft ought to be embarrassed.
>>
>> Microsoft these days is more interested in pushing its services than
>> actually creating a product people want. Windows 11 remains a
>> shitshow: buggy, unpolished and generally a unsatisfying experience to
>> use. And now even its updates - the thing intended to make it better -
>> are problematic.
>
> You forgot the bit where MS moved all the standard functions that used
> to be logically grouped into 17 billion various locations which make no
> sense, and of course the old standard "set all these file types to be
> used by app x, which now have to be manually set one by one.
> Someone at MS needs to be crucified then set on fire for this nonsense
> as a warning to the rest.
>
Most likely that person got promoted.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On 12/6/23 18:49, Xocyll wrote:
> Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the
> entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
> say:
>
>>
>> One of the things I really dislike about recent Microsoft operating
>> systems - ever since Windows 8 - is that updates have become
>> mandatory. Oh sure, you can put them off for a week or four, but in
>> the end they're going to be applied.* It's a problem because Microsoft
>> has repeatedly shown that their updates can be very problematic.
>
> No Windows update is mandatory if you have a 3rd party firewall.
> You might not be able to lock windows in with the windows standard
> firewall, but you sure as hell can with 3rd party, also stop all ads and
> random windows installed "hey we'd like to sell you this so we installed
> it for you to try" apps.
>
> It is all or nothing though, you can't just stop some bad updates, you
> block em all or allow them all, but since MS has a history (10 years or
> so now) of putting out garbage updates, then rolling them back after a
> bit, you can control _when_ they'll be installed to avoid the system
> breaking ones.

Man, if only we could control what happens with our device right?

>> Case in point: a recent update to Windows 11, which has caused
>> numerous problems. Most reported was how it - seeing an installed
>> printer - detected it as an HP printer and installed an "HP Smart App"
>> for it... even if the printer was an Epson or Brother or whatever.**
>> Oops. More concernedly, a number of people have reported slow-downs
>> following the update (mostly AMD Ryzen owners, or people with 13th
>> generation+ Intel CPUs).**
>>
>> And then, there's always the fun of uninstalling the cruft Microsoft
>> insists on reinstalling on your PC, and re-engaging all the privacy
>> settings.
>>
>> I escaped the printer issue (my Brother remains a Brother, as far as
>> Windows is concerned) but the CPU hit? Yeah, I saw that; I had a 10%
>> performance drop... at least according to benchmarks. It wasn't
>> something I actually noticed in actual usage. The fix (see below)
>> cured the issue, but still... Microsoft ought to be embarrassed.
>>
>> Microsoft these days is more interested in pushing its services than
>> actually creating a product people want. Windows 11 remains a
>> shitshow: buggy, unpolished and generally a unsatisfying experience to
>> use. And now even its updates - the thing intended to make it better -
>> are problematic.
>
> You forgot the bit where MS moved all the standard functions that used
> to be logically grouped into 17 billion various locations which make no
> sense, and of course the old standard "set all these file types to be
> used by app x, which now have to be manually set one by one.
> Someone at MS needs to be crucified then set on fire for this nonsense
> as a warning to the rest.

To be fair, that was reverted. The fact it even happened says a LOT,
especially since they "conveniently" made it easy to switch BACK to edge
with one button press.

>> Some days it makes me wonder why we ever left DOS...
>
> Cause they made us when they made Diablo a win95 exclusive.
I can't wait for games to arbitrarily require a TPM module.
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

On Wed, 06 Dec 2023 17:42:11 -0500, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

>Windows 11 remains a
>shitshow: buggy, unpolished and generally a unsatisfying experience to
>use. And now even its updates - the thing intended to make it better -
>are problematic.

I'm on Win 11 and it's just fine? I'm very satisfied on both machines
that have it. What sort of bugginess is out there? I've only had some
minor issues with the new File Explorer with the tabs, and the tabs
outweigh the problem.

The interface polish is quite excellent. When I go back to my wife's Win
10 machines for maintenance, they look like ancient history. As far as
operations in 11, I haven't noticed much difference from 10, other than
cosmetic and some interface simplification. I turned all the TPM enabled
stuff off because it gave me zero benefit. But all the TPM crap does
work, and it works without slowing down the machine.

Admittedly, the Widgets and Interests bar is a shitshow, but that's to be
expected. Microsoft is constantly running annoying experiments on it. But
I hardly ever use it, and Win 10 has an even bigger shitshow in its
Interests bar, which is the equivalent on that OS.

--
Zag

No one ever said on their deathbed, 'Gee, I wish I had
spent more time alone with my computer.' ~Dan(i) Bunten

On Wed, 6 Dec 2023 19:15:52 -0600, candycanearter07 <no@thanks.net>
wrote:

>On 12/6/23 18:49, Xocyll wrote:
>> Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the
>> entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
>> say:
>>
>>>
>>> One of the things I really dislike about recent Microsoft operating
>>> systems - ever since Windows 8 - is that updates have become
>>> mandatory. Oh sure, you can put them off for a week or four, but in
>>> the end they're going to be applied.* It's a problem because Microsoft
>>> has repeatedly shown that their updates can be very problematic.
>>
>> No Windows update is mandatory if you have a 3rd party firewall.
>> You might not be able to lock windows in with the windows standard
>> firewall, but you sure as hell can with 3rd party, also stop all ads and
>> random windows installed "hey we'd like to sell you this so we installed
>> it for you to try" apps.
>>
>> It is all or nothing though, you can't just stop some bad updates, you
>> block em all or allow them all, but since MS has a history (10 years or
>> so now) of putting out garbage updates, then rolling them back after a
>> bit, you can control _when_ they'll be installed to avoid the system
>> breaking ones.
>
>Man, if only we could control what happens with our device right?
>
>>> Case in point: a recent update to Windows 11, which has caused
>>> numerous problems. Most reported was how it - seeing an installed
>>> printer - detected it as an HP printer and installed an "HP Smart App"
>>> for it... even if the printer was an Epson or Brother or whatever.**
>>> Oops. More concernedly, a number of people have reported slow-downs
>>> following the update (mostly AMD Ryzen owners, or people with 13th
>>> generation+ Intel CPUs).**
>>>
>>> And then, there's always the fun of uninstalling the cruft Microsoft
>>> insists on reinstalling on your PC, and re-engaging all the privacy
>>> settings.
>>>
>>> I escaped the printer issue (my Brother remains a Brother, as far as
>>> Windows is concerned) but the CPU hit? Yeah, I saw that; I had a 10%
>>> performance drop... at least according to benchmarks. It wasn't
>>> something I actually noticed in actual usage. The fix (see below)
>>> cured the issue, but still... Microsoft ought to be embarrassed.
>>>
>>> Microsoft these days is more interested in pushing its services than
>>> actually creating a product people want. Windows 11 remains a
>>> shitshow: buggy, unpolished and generally a unsatisfying experience to
>>> use. And now even its updates - the thing intended to make it better -
>>> are problematic.
>>
>> You forgot the bit where MS moved all the standard functions that used
>> to be logically grouped into 17 billion various locations which make no
>> sense, and of course the old standard "set all these file types to be
>> used by app x, which now have to be manually set one by one.
>> Someone at MS needs to be crucified then set on fire for this nonsense
>> as a warning to the rest.
>
>To be fair, that was reverted. The fact it even happened says a LOT,
>especially since they "conveniently" made it easy to switch BACK to edge
>with one button press.
>
>>> Some days it makes me wonder why we ever left DOS...
>>
>> Cause they made us when they made Diablo a win95 exclusive.
>I can't wait for games to arbitrarily require a TPM module.

That'll be in 2032... when Steam stops supporting anything older than
Windows 11. Since Windows 11 requires TPM*, effectively to run any
Windows software - including games - you'll need a computer with a TPM
module. Even if it's an older game.

(No, I'm not at all sore that Valve is effectively preventing me from
using my WinXP and Win7** to play games purchased through their
platform, even though those games used to run just fine on those PCs.
What gives you that idea?)

* yes, there are hacks to bypass the requirement. No, I wouldn't count
on them remaining effective (MS already disabled one of the methods,
IIRC)
** technically, not happening until Jan 1 2024 for Win7.

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the
entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:

>On Wed, 6 Dec 2023 19:15:52 -0600, candycanearter07 <no@thanks.net>
>wrote:
>
>>On 12/6/23 18:49, Xocyll wrote:
>>> Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the
>>> entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
>>> say:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> One of the things I really dislike about recent Microsoft operating
>>>> systems - ever since Windows 8 - is that updates have become
>>>> mandatory. Oh sure, you can put them off for a week or four, but in
>>>> the end they're going to be applied.* It's a problem because Microsoft
>>>> has repeatedly shown that their updates can be very problematic.
>>>
>>> No Windows update is mandatory if you have a 3rd party firewall.
>>> You might not be able to lock windows in with the windows standard
>>> firewall, but you sure as hell can with 3rd party, also stop all ads and
>>> random windows installed "hey we'd like to sell you this so we installed
>>> it for you to try" apps.
>>>
>>> It is all or nothing though, you can't just stop some bad updates, you
>>> block em all or allow them all, but since MS has a history (10 years or
>>> so now) of putting out garbage updates, then rolling them back after a
>>> bit, you can control _when_ they'll be installed to avoid the system
>>> breaking ones.
>>
>>Man, if only we could control what happens with our device right?
>>
>>>> Case in point: a recent update to Windows 11, which has caused
>>>> numerous problems. Most reported was how it - seeing an installed
>>>> printer - detected it as an HP printer and installed an "HP Smart App"
>>>> for it... even if the printer was an Epson or Brother or whatever.**
>>>> Oops. More concernedly, a number of people have reported slow-downs
>>>> following the update (mostly AMD Ryzen owners, or people with 13th
>>>> generation+ Intel CPUs).**
>>>>
>>>> And then, there's always the fun of uninstalling the cruft Microsoft
>>>> insists on reinstalling on your PC, and re-engaging all the privacy
>>>> settings.
>>>>
>>>> I escaped the printer issue (my Brother remains a Brother, as far as
>>>> Windows is concerned) but the CPU hit? Yeah, I saw that; I had a 10%
>>>> performance drop... at least according to benchmarks. It wasn't
>>>> something I actually noticed in actual usage. The fix (see below)
>>>> cured the issue, but still... Microsoft ought to be embarrassed.
>>>>
>>>> Microsoft these days is more interested in pushing its services than
>>>> actually creating a product people want. Windows 11 remains a
>>>> shitshow: buggy, unpolished and generally a unsatisfying experience to
>>>> use. And now even its updates - the thing intended to make it better -
>>>> are problematic.
>>>
>>> You forgot the bit where MS moved all the standard functions that used
>>> to be logically grouped into 17 billion various locations which make no
>>> sense, and of course the old standard "set all these file types to be
>>> used by app x, which now have to be manually set one by one.
>>> Someone at MS needs to be crucified then set on fire for this nonsense
>>> as a warning to the rest.
>>
>>To be fair, that was reverted. The fact it even happened says a LOT,
>>especially since they "conveniently" made it easy to switch BACK to edge
>>with one button press.
>>
>>>> Some days it makes me wonder why we ever left DOS...
>>>
>>> Cause they made us when they made Diablo a win95 exclusive.
>>I can't wait for games to arbitrarily require a TPM module.
>
>That'll be in 2032... when Steam stops supporting anything older than
>Windows 11. Since Windows 11 requires TPM*, effectively to run any
>Windows software - including games - you'll need a computer with a TPM
>module. Even if it's an older game.
>
>(No, I'm not at all sore that Valve is effectively preventing me from
>using my WinXP and Win7** to play games purchased through their
>platform, even though those games used to run just fine on those PCs.
>What gives you that idea?)
>
>
>
>
>
>* yes, there are hacks to bypass the requirement. No, I wouldn't count
>on them remaining effective (MS already disabled one of the methods,
>IIRC)
>** technically, not happening until Jan 1 2024 for Win7.

Well there is one foolproof way of stopping it, a completely offline
computer; Steam can't patch itself into obsolescence if it cannot call
home.

Doesn't help with online games of course, but at least the single player
games will still be usable on the legacy hardware.

Steam in offline mode, firewalled off and the computer disconnected from
the net. It is doable, if a bit of a pain in the ass.

Xocyll

On Thu, 07 Dec 2023 10:48:57 -0500, Xocyll <Xocyll@gmx.com> wrote:

>Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the
>entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
>say:
>
>>On Wed, 6 Dec 2023 19:15:52 -0600, candycanearter07 <no@thanks.net>
>>wrote:
>>
>>>On 12/6/23 18:49, Xocyll wrote:
>>>> Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the
>>>> entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
>>>> say:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> One of the things I really dislike about recent Microsoft operating
>>>>> systems - ever since Windows 8 - is that updates have become
>>>>> mandatory. Oh sure, you can put them off for a week or four, but in
>>>>> the end they're going to be applied.* It's a problem because Microsoft
>>>>> has repeatedly shown that their updates can be very problematic.
>>>>
>>>> No Windows update is mandatory if you have a 3rd party firewall.
>>>> You might not be able to lock windows in with the windows standard
>>>> firewall, but you sure as hell can with 3rd party, also stop all ads and
>>>> random windows installed "hey we'd like to sell you this so we installed
>>>> it for you to try" apps.
>>>>
>>>> It is all or nothing though, you can't just stop some bad updates, you
>>>> block em all or allow them all, but since MS has a history (10 years or
>>>> so now) of putting out garbage updates, then rolling them back after a
>>>> bit, you can control _when_ they'll be installed to avoid the system
>>>> breaking ones.
>>>
>>>Man, if only we could control what happens with our device right?
>>>
>>>>> Case in point: a recent update to Windows 11, which has caused
>>>>> numerous problems. Most reported was how it - seeing an installed
>>>>> printer - detected it as an HP printer and installed an "HP Smart App"
>>>>> for it... even if the printer was an Epson or Brother or whatever.**
>>>>> Oops. More concernedly, a number of people have reported slow-downs
>>>>> following the update (mostly AMD Ryzen owners, or people with 13th
>>>>> generation+ Intel CPUs).**
>>>>>
>>>>> And then, there's always the fun of uninstalling the cruft Microsoft
>>>>> insists on reinstalling on your PC, and re-engaging all the privacy
>>>>> settings.
>>>>>
>>>>> I escaped the printer issue (my Brother remains a Brother, as far as
>>>>> Windows is concerned) but the CPU hit? Yeah, I saw that; I had a 10%
>>>>> performance drop... at least according to benchmarks. It wasn't
>>>>> something I actually noticed in actual usage. The fix (see below)
>>>>> cured the issue, but still... Microsoft ought to be embarrassed.
>>>>>
>>>>> Microsoft these days is more interested in pushing its services than
>>>>> actually creating a product people want. Windows 11 remains a
>>>>> shitshow: buggy, unpolished and generally a unsatisfying experience to
>>>>> use. And now even its updates - the thing intended to make it better -
>>>>> are problematic.
>>>>
>>>> You forgot the bit where MS moved all the standard functions that used
>>>> to be logically grouped into 17 billion various locations which make no
>>>> sense, and of course the old standard "set all these file types to be
>>>> used by app x, which now have to be manually set one by one.
>>>> Someone at MS needs to be crucified then set on fire for this nonsense
>>>> as a warning to the rest.
>>>
>>>To be fair, that was reverted. The fact it even happened says a LOT,
>>>especially since they "conveniently" made it easy to switch BACK to edge
>>>with one button press.
>>>
>>>>> Some days it makes me wonder why we ever left DOS...
>>>>
>>>> Cause they made us when they made Diablo a win95 exclusive.
>>>I can't wait for games to arbitrarily require a TPM module.
>>
>>That'll be in 2032... when Steam stops supporting anything older than
>>Windows 11. Since Windows 11 requires TPM*, effectively to run any
>>Windows software - including games - you'll need a computer with a TPM
>>module. Even if it's an older game.
>>
>>(No, I'm not at all sore that Valve is effectively preventing me from
>>using my WinXP and Win7** to play games purchased through their
>>platform, even though those games used to run just fine on those PCs.
>>What gives you that idea?)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>* yes, there are hacks to bypass the requirement. No, I wouldn't count
>>on them remaining effective (MS already disabled one of the methods,
>>IIRC)
>>** technically, not happening until Jan 1 2024 for Win7.
>
>Well there is one foolproof way of stopping it, a completely offline
>computer; Steam can't patch itself into obsolescence if it cannot call
>home.
>
>Doesn't help with online games of course, but at least the single player
>games will still be usable on the legacy hardware.
>
>Steam in offline mode, firewalled off and the computer disconnected from
>the net. It is doable, if a bit of a pain in the ass.
>
>Xocyll

I tried that with an XP machine a number of years back. Steam was
already in offline mode, and the PC was disconnected from the network.
Nonetheless, Steam insisted on updating, and - when it couldn't do so
- just errored out. Apparently there is a time limit on how long you
can leave it in offline mode before Steam insists on contacting the
mothership.

Anyway, that was it for Steam gaming on my XP box. Fortunately, many
of the games of that era still came on optical disks so it's not a
total loss. But I doubt I'll be able to say that about my (sole
remaining) Windows7 PC; other than stuff from GOG, it won't be able to
play any contemporary games.