PM6 Build 6245 installed on Windows 7 . . .

[ggeinec]

I'm still running Windows 7 on this particular laptop.

I just pulled up PM6 Build 6097 to check for updates and was offered Build 6245 which I downloaded and apparently installed successfully.

I say apparently because I then opened PM6 and verified the new build under Help.

But then I saw in the announcement here for this new build that it requires Windows 8 and above.   

So now I'm wondering if it's ok to stay with 6245 or if I should revert to 6097?

Thanks for any input.

Edited to clarify:

Upon launching PM it notified me with the automatic small pop-up window that there was an update waiting for me. I did not go to Help to 'check now' for an update.

[Kirk Baker]

I'm still running Windows 7 on this particular laptop.

I just pulled up PM6 Build 6097 to check for updates and was offered Build 6245 which I downloaded and apparently installed successfully.

I say apparently because I then opened PM6 and verified the new build under Help.

But then I saw in the announcement here for this new build that it requires Windows 8 and above.   

So now I'm wondering if it's ok to stay with 6245 or if I should revert to 6097?

Thanks for any input.

Edited to clarify:

Upon launching PM it notified me with the automatic small pop-up window that there was an update waiting for me. I did not go to Help to 'check now' for an update.

It should still work on Windows 7, but we no longer test on that OS.

You can stay with build 6245.

-Kirk

[ahoward]

⬆️ Kirk's answer is the TL;DR, but I wrote this as he replied:

Because Microsoft ended support for Windows 7, we no longer test Photo Mechanic on that operating system. It is certainly possible that Photo Mechanic will continue to work correctly (I don't think we have made any changes that rely on new features of W8, 10, or 11), we just can't guarantee that it will continue to correctly, since Microsoft does not guarantee that the OS will work correctly. If you aren't encountering any issues with the current build, I don't think you need to downgrade, technically the readme has said it required Windows 8 since August or maybe even builds before that, I think the template for the forum post just got updated for this build.

[Kirk Baker]

One potential problem with the last build on Windows 7 would be that we have moved away from the Internet Explorer browser for the GPS maps features (Google won't support IE after this August) and we are now using Microsoft Edge (Chromium) as the browser for GPS maps.

I don't know if Edge is available on Windows 7 or not.  If it is not available (or if the version is too old) then I expect that you'll have problems on Windows 7 when using those features.

-Kirk

[pwmackin]

Edge browser is available for Windows 7.  Actually, Microsoft only released it *after* they ended primary support for Win 7 which I found quite funny... I guess they understand a few of us were going to stick with Win 7 as long as possible. 

Despite fearmongering to the contrary, I still receive some limited security patches from Microsoft.  But extended support for Win 7 ends in January 2023, about 6 months from now.  I held off upgrading to Windows 10, but finally caved this weekend as I needed to run Nikon Studio NX and they force the software to check and fail if you are not running 10 and up. 

But it's actually not a bad OS.  If you install Classic Shell, it is barely distinguishable from Windows 7 actually.  Sure, it has some MS tracking stuff but I would surprisingly recommend Win 10 as a long time Windows 7 user.  (You can upgrade for free)