Dolphin Emulator will now only be supported on Windows 10 and newer
Source: Dude trust meshame too, considering a ton of people (myself included) still use Windows 7 32 bit.
10 sure, I agree. 11?If you still are on Win7, better upgrade to 10 or 11. Or even Linux whatever. If you are still on 8 then I ask why.
M$ has done a lot of very anti-consumer moves with Windows 11 so some of us will wait for Windows 12 (hopefully it's not the shitstain that's 11). If the devs forced users to use 11 simply to use their emulators, they'd be punishing them, not helping.It was bound to happen at some point and people need to move on eventually. Even if security risks aren't an issue for you, Windows 7 is not receiving feature updates that applications may need to work. Like in Dolphin's case where multiple APIs are missing from Windows 7, but are available in 10 (and maybe 8.1).
According to the Progress Report, because Dolphin has to be able to support all kinds of weird and unusual controllers (Wii Remotes, for starters), it's very important for them to support the newest input API. And wouldn't you know it, Microsoft released a new one called "Windows.Gaming.Input". Apparently controller manufacturers and most software developers weren't implementing Xinput correctly, and it eventually got so bad that controller manufacturers were using improperly-developed software to test their controllers, resulting in improperly-developed controllers, and it got to where actually implementing Xinput correctly would end up breaking things.Well, can't wait to read the reasoning. As it is, Dolphin is in amazing condition now... And short of amazing optimization and game breaking bug fixes... There's not much cause for worry.
Ah, that makes sense. Thanks for the informative post.According to the Progress Report, because Dolphin has to be able to support all kinds of weird and unusual controllers (Wii Remotes, for starters), it's very important for them to support the newest input API. And wouldn't you know it, Microsoft released a new one called "Windows.Gaming.Input". Apparently controller manufacturers and most software developers weren't implementing Xinput correctly, and it eventually got so bad that controller manufacturers were using improperly-developed software to test their controllers, resulting in improperly-developed controllers, and it got to where actually implementing Xinput correctly would end up breaking things.
So, Microsoft's new API is designed to work properly when correctly implemented and even when incorrectly implemented, to work around mistakes made by controller and software developers. However, Microsoft isn't rolling out this new API to pre-Windows 10 systems. Meaning that if Dolphin is to stay up-to-date on input API and keep controllers working, they're forced to abandon pre-Windows 10 as well.
Just in case my summary is mis-understanding things, here's a copy/paste from the Progress Report.
Long ago, there was DirectInput (DInput). This was Microsoft's original input API for game controllers on Windows, going all the way back to Windows 95. It was/is fairly messy by today's standards, requiring manual mapping of each button individually, but it was/is extremely flexible, able to handle any and all types of game control devices. However, once Microsoft created the Xbox 360, they wanted a way to easily connect a 360 controller to a PC without mapping or other hassle. So Microsoft created a new input API, XInput. While it is much less configurable than DInput, its simplicity allowed game developers to ship mappings for it within the game itself, so user mapping was no longer required.
Microsoft knew that they would want to add features to their controllers with new consoles, so they added a way to expand Xinput’s functionality with XInputGetCapabilities (link). This Windows function allowed a controller to report if it had differing functionality than a 360 controller, potentially allowing for future expandability or even “weird” functionality like touchpads or gyros featured on other controllers. However, it turned out that the majority of programs took a bit of a shortcut and ignored non-essential parts of the XInput spec. If a controller used XInputGetCapabilities, it was very unlikely to encounter software that even noticed. This laziness dripped down toward manufacturers, and many controllers began to improperly implement the XInput API because the games they used to test weren’t enforcing it correctly. If one of these flawed controllers was used in a software that actually supported the full, proper XInput spec, the software could crash. Ask us how we know.
When Microsoft created new Xbox controllers, they wanted to support the controller’s new functionality on Windows. Now with a reason to resolve the XInputGetCapabilities nightmare, Microsoft’s devised a solution - make a new input API. Naturally.
The creatively named “Windows.Gaming.Input” (WGI) is the newest input API for Windows. This ambitious new API seeks to combine the best of both DInput and XInput into a single API, with a new input-centric approach that theoretically will give it the flexibility for many different types of input devices while maintaining easy setup and use. However, those new features haven't been implemented yet, and as it stands today it is basically just XInput plus One/Series controller features. And it's still missing esssential features that aren't on their Xbox controllers, like accelerometers and gyros, so currently WGI is just yet another Microsoft input API for Microsoft input devices.
Regardless, Dolphin's need to emulate Wii Remotes and several odd controllers for the GameCube and Wii makes having robust input API support a higher priority for us than most other programs, so supporting Windows.Gaming.Input was a natural choice. Many benefits are immediate, as it supports up to eight simultaneous controllers (up from four with XInput), support for the Xbox One/Series rumble triggers, and has better battery reporting. Basically everything we were hoping XInputGetCapabilities would be. However, if the input-centric WGI future comes to pass, users may be able to use it for all kinds of different input devices. We shall see.
It also broke our Windows 7 support.
stop crying lmao, 11 is a really good os10 sure, I agree. 11?
My major gripe was that using my Quest 2 was difficult.stop crying lmao, 11 is a really good os
Well then, enjoy your nvme ssd issues, AMD CPU performance decrease and non-functioning right-click.stop crying lmao, 11 is a really good os
Yes, definitely.stop crying lmao, 11 is a really good os
Lmao, dude, for real, you run on a Sempron or what ?shame too, considering a ton of people (myself included) still use Windows 7 32 bit.