[Windows 7] Crash on startup: "The procedure entry point CreateFile2 could not be located in the dynamic link library KERNEL32.dll"

[Gazyi]

It crashes since build 1.20.0-rc1, probably because of minizip lib which uses this function (mz_os_win32.c#L206, mz_strm_os_win32.c#L106).

[GeckoEidechse]

Good catch and thanks for the report <3

Thing is, I don't think we are willing to revert the change as it's needed for mod-auto-download which will become an integral part of Northstar in the near future.

Windows 7 has been EoL for over 3 years and Steam Hardware survey puts it at 0.8% of all Windows users so I'm not sure if it's worth the opportunity cost to investigate a fix that also works for Windows 7.

Of course, if someone wants to PR a change that addresses it, I'll gladly take it but otherwise I think it might be just to much effort for too little impact.

(Sidenote: Yes Windows 10 sucks, so does every version of Windows. Linux is the way to go <3)

[Alystrasz]

Could you give us an error message?
Maybe the problem does not come from minizip itself but from one of its dependencies?
(we're looking into removing some here)

[GeckoEidechse]

Closing as stale due to the lack of response. Windows 7 support is not a priority as the userbase is tiny and continues to decrease (0.5% on Steam HW survey atm).

We simply cannot afford spending time on something that on the scale of Northstar only affects around 2-3 people.
If Windows 10+ telemetry is an issue for you and the reason you stick to Windows 7, then I highly recommend switching to Linux instead. Linux playerbase on Northstar is higher than Windows 7 and as such gets priority when comparing the two.

We still accept PRs that improve Windows 7 support granted they do not negatively affect the rest of the playerbase or code quality, however we will not actively work on improving Windows 7 support as there are other areas that will benefit a larger chunk of players.