I would be ok probably because I don't expect the content of the book to change over time, so the existence of a mobi version would in no way affect the existence of the epub version (provided that I downloaded the epub version directly after purchase which is recommended practice anyways).

With games it's a bit different though. The current practice shows that GOG cares much less about Windows XP users than about Galaxy users.

The obvious solution out would be alternative "classic" installers without Galaxy but with XP support (where possible). Truly classic.

What is truly amazing is that these games seem to be compatible with XP and only Galaxy is not.

Well...

...if epub was a dead format for many years, no longer officially supported by anybody...
...it the ebook shop informed me months in advance that it will be dropping support for the epub format...
...if the epub format was DRM-free allowing me to make a working backup...

...then yes it would be perfectly OK for me.

Whilst I understand why some people want to keep using XP for their GOG games, I can't see that it's a practical option for GOG:

- They will have to provide and maintain a separate set of XP compatible installers. Any changes or updates will have to be tested to see if it breaks XP compatibility and this will obviously have a cost. The (very?) small proportion of GOG customers still relying on XP, and the fact that it will get smaller over time, surely makes this unviable.

- Where do you draw the line? Are you going to provide this option indefinitely? If GOG do this for XP then are people going to expect the same for Vista, Windows 7, 8, 10 etc.?

If GOG are willing to do this, then great. However, I think it's very unlikely and if people (me included) want to use unsupported systems, then the onus is on us to download the games and keep our own back-ups.

Except I never said that.

Like I said multiple times, there is a difference between asking Gog if there is a possibility for them to offer the possibility to download all the previous version of the installers, and saying that because a game no longer works on Windows XP, even thought Gog announced months ago that they will drop XP support, then Gog is obligated to provide said solution.

Could you please point me to that News post? I remember official statement of dropping XP support for Galaxy, but as long as games are concerned - they've just started adding DosBox games without XP support (starting with Codename Iceman just 2 months ago)...or am I missing sth?

Part of being human is doing right by others. Failure to understand and appreciate this simple truth is a sure sign that a person has lost their way.

Are you going to pay their bills and employers? Thats what I thought. Look your answer is right when we are dealing with relationships like your friends, family and girlfriends.
However GOG isnt your friend or dad. GOG is a corporation and so they have to keep the money flowing otherwise they will go bankrupt. Maintaining a separate repository for making sure every game is running under XP is gonna cost lots of money. And it isnt worth for them. The number of XP users nowadays is probably smaller than Linux user base.

Guys stop being tightwads and just upgrade to Windows 7 or Linux, which you can run probably all games beside the brand new ones through Wine.

EDIT: Fixed some grammar/spelling mistakes

Considering there is good progress being made even on getting demanding AAA stuff like Rise of the Tomb Raider (Denuvo and all) running under Wine there's not nearly the limitations there that there used to be.

NO exceptions. Ever. Especially corporations, as they have special rights the rest of don't, like limited liability.

If I had my way, small businesses and employees would not be taxed, and private control of the monetary system would be eliminated, which would end the "business" cycle, and it's massive transfers of wealth to the people who operate what is essentially a Ponzi scheme.

I dont know how this thread ended up being a discussion about which Economical/Ideological System is the best, but anyways I´m still gonna give you an answer.

Well there are/were places in the world that leaders would talk about a "great economical system" were everyone would have the same quality of life and equality. However if you look at these places the population are way poorer than in Capitalist Countries. Look at Cuba, former USSR countries or North Korea. I dont see them enjoying the same kind of freedom that we do.

What are you saying is the same bland promises that Sociopath leaders like Stalin and Hitler gave decades ago to their population. Look where it got them... and How they are doing now....

Liking it or not this is the best way for the world to work. And even if its not entirely fair. It still gives everyone a chance to get to the top in life, even if its only once.

What you are talking about is a big pile of "Pipedreams" this doesnt exist anywhere and would never work. Someone always has to carry "the burden" or take the blame;

Edit: Fixed some grammar/spelling mistakes

I stilll say that down the line, most of that stuff will be running natively under Linux and its derivatives.

There is too much corporate (outside of Microsoft that is) and user interest aligning on this issue for it not to happen. Corporations like Steam (not to mention many game devs) are pushing for Linux support big-time (1/3 of GOG's catalog runs on Linux with what? 1-2% user-base?) on the user-side and using it internally for their own infrastructure.

Nobody likes the idea of asking Microsoft's permission (or working around their restrictions) and systematically giving Microsoft a % of the pie in order to do business because they are positioned at the OS-layer and are sometimes playing a game of "Microsoft says".

Most users are just ignorant about it at this point in time.

Really, the main thing going for Windows at this point is what I like to call the "high school" factor. Most people grew up on Windows machines and are reluctant to steer away from what they are familiar with.

I find it such a shame that people treat Linux as some kind of weird Alien that invaded planet Earth with an incomprehensible language. If Linux was as popular as Mac or Windows, maybe we would start seeing more AA games getting native compatibility with it, such as the new Wolfstein that is in development or the new Doom.

I´ve been using linux for almost 10 years. And all I can say that if it wasnt for the lack of compatibility with the newest games I would´ve completely stopped using Windows a long time ago. For me everything is better on Linux, less bugs, less compatibility issues and way more security than Windows.

I currently run a machine dual booting both system Windows 10 and Linux Deepin OS, since I love to play the latest games, and they usually dont get Linux support.

However I can confirm that I can run on linux all old games that GOG sells here, through Wine. I think a much better solution for the hard headed tightwads "purists" here that refuse to drop XP and upgrade their system to one of the latest Windows, would be to install one of the Linux Distributions such as Deepin OS, Linux Mint or Ubuntu. I bet if they learned how to properly use it they would never want to go back to Windows again, unless they want to play one of the latest AA games that get released every year.


Edit: Fixed some grammar/spelling mistakes

Yeah, I've been in a similar situation where I dual-booted and used Windows as a glorified gaming OS. However, my experience has been that I'd massively favor Linux-only games in my catalog in order to avoid rebooting on Windows.

I got a Lenovo Thinkpad this time around (though I'm not using it to dual-boot Windows as it turns out), but next time, I might just give a chance to System76, get one of their machines and do away with the factory Windows installation altogether.

I'll just boot Windows in a VM with GPU-passthrough when I need it to game and limit my purchases to Linux games and Windows-only games that won't push my hardware to the limit (so I know they'll run ok in a VM).

For 20 years I keep on hearing frm the Linux fans that Linus will replace Windows Any Day Now.......

On the subject of Linux and Windows XP, I'd actually prefer to download an old version of a game through GOG and throw it in a virtual WinXP machine on Windows 10, say through Hyper-V or VMware Player.

But that's primarily because I prefer the possibilities a VM gives you (it limits the game's control to a window etc) while still being locked down if you don't connect it to any network. And because I honestly really dislike Linux despite having tried it on and off (sometimes as the go-to OS for a couple of months) over the last 15 years or so.

Though I am eagerly following the development of elementary OS, which is IMHO the best thing to happen to Linux since Linux Mint was created.