Kamamura: You should not, ever, under any circumstances or excuse, run an unsupported system like Windows XP on a machine connected to the Internet. You also cannot expect that software will work on such a machine. Software developers typically do not test compatibility with unsupported OS, because nobody should run such systems in the first plce.
I noticed your comment only today.
- Why shouldn't I run an "unsupported system" on a machine connected to the internet? (And why do you assume that I did? - I can run GOG games without any connection to the internet)
Connecting any PC or other device (like a smartphone) with the internet does pose a certain risk - for both sides, if I may add. The risk for my PC is my personal issue, but if my PC creates risks for others, that's a different story. As we all know, such risks can not be avoided (alas), regardless of the device I am using. So what you are saying is that an XP PC presents a considerably higher risk than any other device. I disagree - this is not true for XP PCs in general, and definitely not for mine which I use for solo-playing only (both this reply and my original post have been created on a new Win 10 PC, by the way). The highest risk comes from unprotected devices (virus protection, firewalls, ...) and, perhaps even more so, from careless use, as my Norton logs tell me daily. Yes, XP doesn't receive updates from Microsoft anymore, but compared to other risks, this one is small (you may have a different opinion, but please don't word it as a fact or edict for others).
On the other hand, there are many older games which don't run on "supported systems", but on my XP PC. And I happen to be one of the guys who still likes to play such older games.
- I did actually expect this game to run on my XP PC, and it did initially. The reason is simple (as stated in my original post): The GOG page listed XP as one of the platforms the game is compatible with. After an update the game didn't work anymore, and I asked why. As a consequence, GOG changed the game requirements, so it's not visible anymore that the game was originally announced as a game compatible with XP.
- To be honest, I doubt that "software developers typically do not test compatibility with unsupported OS, because nobody should run such systems in the first plce". This may be your personal reason, but developers "typically" are trying to create games for the largest possible potential customer base, and restrictions are normally caused by the development tools they are using, not by any "educational" motives.
I'm afraid it's the other way around: The developers put XP on their list of supported OS without testing whether or not that's true or remains true after changes.
Even worse: There is an increasing number of single-player games where my firewall tells me that the application is trying to access an external site or IP address, but the game itself doesn't inform me, nor asks for my approval.
If I block it, the game runs fine, so what's the point of trying to establish the connection? And why not let me know? Why comes "spyware" to my mind?
I respect your concerns for internet security, but then, trust me, XP should probably be the least of your worries.
