I've read some games don't even launch with SteamCMD alone. And what about logging achievements?

Small mode does reduce RAM consumption a bit. It's not a pressing issue ATM. I still get plenty out of this computer, will continue to use it at least for some time, especially with a recent upgrade in the sound department.

I did actually come across a website recently that is inaccessible on a classic PC if CPU doesn't support SSE 4.1. It doesn't really do anything more than what websites have always been doing, has images, information and lets you submit data. Bu because it's a modern (.NET) "app" masquerading as a website, user is hard-blocked if CPU doesn't do SSE 4.1, it uses WASM SIMD.

And what about logging achievements?

Personally I couldn't care less about them, if I use Steam on obsolete OS.

Just re-visited my test Win11 23H2 install this weekend. It uses older ExplorerPatcher to restore some sanity to Explorer shell. But, even so, you can't drop file onto application's taskbar button. I didn't try new ExplorerPatcher, my focus was on messing with old new retro sound card I got.

It's just irritating, it's like Microsoft is on a mission to make Windows useless or at least frustrating to use. That they started years ago, but it got extreme with Win11. How do they manage to implement all these stupid decisions? I suspect a smaller company developing software wouldn't be able to get away crippling its own program like that.

On somewhat unrelated note, I don't know how I managed to make my daily Win10 20H2 so slow to boot. It takes about 1 min 40 sec to get from Windows logo screen to login screen. Win11 takes about 40 seconds, which is about normal for my aging PC. Could it have to do with NTFS? I have way too much junk in my personal folders on the partition where Win10 is installed. I try to be careful and don't install anything I don't intend to keep installed permanently, but still I manage to introduce slowness. Both partitions are on the same disk, but on the complete opposite end. Not sure if this is significant in my case.

Unless it's something about 20H2 specifically and I forgot about how fast / slow it was at the beginning, I'll have to try one of the backups of that install.

UCyborg wrote on 2025-04-14, 08:05:

Just re-visited my test Win11 23H2 install this weekend. It uses older ExplorerPatcher to restore some sanity to Explorer shell. […]
Show full quote

Just re-visited my test Win11 23H2 install this weekend. It uses older ExplorerPatcher to restore some sanity to Explorer shell. But, even so, you can't drop file onto application's taskbar button. I didn't try new ExplorerPatcher, my focus was on messing with old new retro sound card I got.

It's just irritating, it's like Microsoft is on a mission to make Windows useless or at least frustrating to use. That they started years ago, but it got extreme with Win11. How do they manage to implement all these stupid decisions? I suspect a smaller company developing software wouldn't be able to get away crippling its own program like that.

On somewhat unrelated note, I don't know how I managed to make my daily Win10 20H2 so slow to boot. It takes about 1 min 40 sec to get from Windows logo screen to login screen. Win11 takes about 40 seconds, which is about normal for my aging PC. Could it have to do with NTFS? I have way too much junk in my personal folders on the partition where Win10 is installed. I try to be careful and don't install anything I don't intend to keep installed permanently, but still I manage to introduce slowness. Both partitions are on the same disk, but on the complete opposite end. Not sure if this is significant in my case.

Unless it's something about 20H2 specifically and I forgot about how fast / slow it was at the beginning, I'll have to try one of the backups of that install.

Do you have any additional drives connected? I used to have a cheapo 2TB SATA SSD installed with all my GoG games that Windows wanted re-scan every time it booted, making boot time horribly slow. I got an external USB adapter to use it when needed instead and no problems with boot times since.

Yeah, will check if any of the 2 other disks are a factor.

I don't use Windows' boot manager for multibooting, but recently saw live how the ridiculous change back with Windows 8 was. "We made the booting so fast we don't wait for user to press F8 anymore.". It looks like the OS practically fully boots before it shows menu to select operating system. And then it reboots if you choose another. At least that's how it look on BIOS based systems.

Maybe not as noticeable with NVMe / SSD disk and such, but it's still silly.

Question about Windows 11 -
Once it is activated, can it be used offline?

ncmark wrote on 2025-04-25, 22:10:

Question about Windows 11 -
Once it is activated, can it be used offline?

Well looks like we've hit the usual point where the thread goes on to long and it's time to close the thread.

I kinda wish I had a got a new computer with with 10 while I still could
I have been looking on dell refurbished (where I got my last two machines) but they have NOTHING right now - not one! I was thinking there would be a big flush of computers as 10 support ends, but maybe that already happened (shrug)
I might HAVE to get something with 11

ncmark wrote on 2025-04-26, 10:46:

I might HAVE to get something with 11

Hi! Raspberry Pi 5 can run Windows 11 for ARM, I believe.
(I'm running the ARM version on a Macintosh here.)
As far as I know, Windows 11 itself has x86 and x64 emulation on ARM platform built-in.
So it can run them too in addition to new, native Win64 ARM applications.

^ Well that doesn't get away from having to use win 11 does it 😉

ncmark wrote on 2025-04-26, 11:50:

^ Well that doesn't get away from having to use win 11 does it 😉

No, not really. But what I don’t really get is the aversion against Win 11.
I mean, I'm not a fan of CoPilot either and the screenshot collecting.
But Win 10 isn't exactly good, either. Both are "evil" alike.

Never understood why users finally "gave in" and switched to Win 10.
Because years ago the forums and comment sections were full of users who
promissed to boycott Windows 10 and use Linux or Mac when Windows 7 was going to be EOL.

But in practice, everyone I knew personally switched to Windows 10.
Except me. I promissed myself to not to support Windows 10 and so I did. I skipped it.
Some may call it integrity or just stubborness. 😉

And that puzzles me, to be honest.
I can't understand why users in retrospect see Windows 10 as the "good old Windows 10",
when it always had been the "devil in disguise" really.

I mean, heck! Windows 10 was the Windows with the annoying pop-up windows that tried to trick Windows 7 users into upgrading.
It was the Windows that tried to burn existing Windows 7 license keys.

Windows 10 was the first Windows that followed "software-as-a-service" business model.
Windows 10 nolonger respected the user, but entirely served Microsoft.
It also deleted applications that weren't compatible, without asking the user for permission.

It was also the first Windows that nolonger allowed blocking the updates.
Ordinary users could merely delay Windows updates, not stop them.
That concept is irresponsible, considering that Windows runs at airports, in hospitals, atomic power plants etc.
You can't simply re-boot those systems without the "ok" of an user/operator.

Personally, I experienced Windows 10 trouble at the doctor a few times.
The matrix printer nolonger worked, because Microsoft forced an broken update onto all Windows PCs.
The result was that the receipts nolonger could be printed and the doctor had to write them by hand. Thanks Windows 10!

Oh, and did I mention the closing of Microsoft's quality control department? 🙁
Since early 2010s Microsoft nolonger does test device drivers and updates before shipping them.
That's exactly the time period in which Windows 10 came to be.

https://borncity.com/win/2019/09/25/ex-micros … ows-10-qualitt/

I think the thing is this, with each version of windows, micro$oft gets more "draconian.' Windows 7 seems positively "friendly" next to windows 10. So while 10 might not be perfect, it is better than 11. At least, that's the way it seems to me.

There's no true alternative to Windows that doesn't suck. All the knowledge one has accumulated to get around Windows, it's all useless everywhere else. The year of Linux desktop is a joke that has turned into a meme at this point. ReactOS? What's even the point of this project?

ReactOS? What's even the point of this project?

Same as FreeDOS? 🤷‍♂️

Edit: ReactOS is on level of Windows Server 2003, I think. Roughly. That used to be the goal, at least.
However, that's merely for the architecture, not application level.

ReactOS shares source code with WINE project, so Windows 10/11 level programs could technically run.
It's not being limited to Windows XP or Server 2003 applications.

Also, Win32 and Win64 API are virtually same.
A 64-Bit port wouldn't require ages to materialize, a test build already is being possible (minus WoW64).

All the knowledge one has accumulated to get around Windows, it's all useless everywhere else.

Yes. That's a very good example of self-reflection, I think.
Way back in the 2000s when I got my iMac G3 I was basically lost on Mac OS.

In order to get forwards, I had to "let go" of my PC knowledge and restart.
It wasn't easy at first, the first few steps were the hardest.

But after a few days, I got used to it and it actually was fun doing things in a completely warped way for once.
As an "emotional support" I had installed Virtual PC, so I could run DOS/Windows. I also got a copy of SoftWindows.

Installing Mac OS X was fun, too. Well, once I had disassembled the iMac and upgraded the RAM.
Running Classic Environment was like using an emulator.

I dont understand what the problem is with Win11?

All the things Ive read here so far looks to me how it would look if a duck was to start complaining about having webbed feet.
I use pretty much every version of Windows from Windows 11 down to Windows 2000 on the NT branch, except Windows 8 and 8.1 because they were crap!
But otherwise the OS is a tool to do a job, Win11 is no different.
Once you strip out all the spyware crap its ok, not much different to Windows 10 in most ways.
If privacy is a thing for you what the hell are you doing using Windows in any form anyway? Its like putting your head into the mouth of a wild Lion and expecting him not to give it a nibble when hes hungry!
The whole online game thing to do with Steam well thats a problem the gamers have made for themselves by centralising and I have no sympathy for any of them complaining about it all now.

Software is another matter.
I still use Adobe CS6 because I own it outright, its taken time to get it to do UHD video editing properly but it works and well on the system I have it on but in a few years who knows. But Ill cross that bridge when I get there.

Linux as an alternative to Windows.
It always has been but it depends on what youre doing.
Windows is the pickup truck but for computers. If you want a armoured car then a pickup truck isnt the right choice, if you want a nice safe smooth ride then a Range Rover is your ride not a pick up...

But a pickup truck can be most things to most men most of the time but I wouldnt trade my 640d convertible for it!

Windows 11 is the shape of things to come, if you dont like it dont use it and they will change direction.

Jo22 wrote on 2025-04-26, 10:58:

Hi! Raspberry Pi 5 can run Windows 11 for ARM, I believe.

It can, but it's not a very pleasant experience. Although with a PCIe SSD it might be quite OK. The problem as I recall it was lack of networking drivers, but it may have gotten better in the year or so since I checked.
https://cloakedthargoid.wordpress.com/rpi5-win11-pcie/

Taking the thread title to context, I wonder what category this fits in:
https://cookieplmonster.github.io/2025/04/23/ … win11-24h2-bug/

Old games breaking due to silly bugs of their own is nothing new. I haven't played San Andreas in years, but last time I did, I noticed SilentPatch modified game's default frame rate limiter. It's not like Going from 24 to 30 will do a lot for smoothness. That actually broke one of the scripted sequences that it didn't quite play right, the one mission where you go with Ryder to rob some place guarded with military personnel where you load up some boxes. It didn't break it to the point that you'd get stuck, but it looked funny, I really don't remember any details...I think it involved one of the characters opening of the gates and character's animation didn't play or something along those lines...

Old GTAs are just terrible on the technical side...though I wonder how many old games aren't. C'mon, you can't be serious being suicidal over one type of plane not spawning in San Andreas. 😜 Somehow this bug reminds me of an unrelated bug in another game, Drakan: Order of the Flame. If you load a save file on a different Windows system where the save was generated, map icon blinks forever until some event (objectives being updated) turns it off.

I don't notice I run Win11, until I want to drag the file on a taskbar button or browse folders with pictures. And that's what bugs me, MS going out of their way to make the OS more primitive. It seems to go one step forward and two step backwards. I've been using Classic Shell even on Windows 7. And it looks like hackers have a hard time keeping up fixing MS' idiocies. Of course you could never have all smallest aspects working perfectly like in older versions.

Though sometimes I also think of myself being too picky and turning into a monster I despise.

I installed Windows 11 on my old main desktop, and the only problem was having to reapply the registry changes to disable automatic driver updates. When it restarted for the first time, it came up with that same old broken graphics driver again.

My dad accepted the Windows 11 upgrade through Windows Update, but he spent a few months letting it continuously fail and retry because his computer didn't have enough free disk space (and for some reason, Microsoft's genius response to the upgrade failing due to insufficient disk space is to download the full installer all over again). If you use the installation media to perform the upgrade, you will have the option to use removable storage (USB or an SD card) as temporary storage, but it's extremely slow. I even let him use my external SSD as the temporary drive, and it still took hours.

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2025-04-26, 19:10:

I dont understand what the problem is with Win11? […]
Show full quote

I dont understand what the problem is with Win11?

All the things Ive read here so far looks to me how it would look if a duck was to start complaining about having webbed feet.
I use pretty much every version of Windows from Windows 11 down to Windows 2000 on the NT branch, except Windows 8 and 8.1 because they were crap!
But otherwise the OS is a tool to do a job, Win11 is no different.
Once you strip out all the spyware crap its ok, not much different to Windows 10 in most ways.
If privacy is a thing for you what the hell are you doing using Windows in any form anyway? Its like putting your head into the mouth of a wild Lion and expecting him not to give it a nibble when hes hungry!

It's basically the same complaints from Windows 8 combined with stupid stuff like Recall and the forced e-waste disaster in October. Windows 8 had some kernel-level improvements under that shitty UI, and I would think that Windows 11 is the same. It's just the usual corporate mindset of change for the sake of change that makes people complain.

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2025-04-26, 19:10:

Windows 11 is the shape of things to come, if you dont like it dont use it and they will change direction.

The majority of Windows users don't have another choice because of software support. Besides, people have gone too soft to complain in a way that results in real change (if they even complain at all). On the system requirements, I still believe that the majority of people will simply accept Windows 10 support ending and buy a new computer, no matter how little money they have or how much hardware prices increase due to tariffs, inflation, or greed. They'll just set up a payment plan for a Celeron with 4GB of RAM and 64GB eMMC storage (on a desktop that inevitably won't have M.2 slots or support booting from NVMe drives in PCIe adapters) that will cost $1500 by October, and they'll starve themselves to compensate.

UCyborg wrote on 2025-04-27, 19:45:

I don't notice I run Win11, until I want to drag the file on a taskbar button or browse folders with pictures. And that's what bugs me, MS going out of their way to make the OS more primitive. It seems to go one step forward and two step backwards. I've been using Classic Shell even on Windows 7. And it looks like hackers have a hard time keeping up fixing MS' idiocies. Of course you could never have all smallest aspects working perfectly like in older versions.

Though sometimes I also think of myself being too picky and turning into a monster I despise.

No, Windows 11 really annoys me because of the UI changes. The new start menu (actually just a continuation of the boneheaded changes in Windows 8 - listing every shortcut in alphabetical order with huge blank space around them instead of having nice folder groups) and Explorer right-click menu are a pain in the ass.