FSX-SE Playing FSX se offline in window7

[Reco01 0]

Hi all

With Steam announcing its shutting access for windows 7 next Jan would it still be  playable  in offline mode after that date. I would still like to run a PC on windows 7 as I have other software that is not compatible with win10

I have tested and I can play in offline mode but I assume steam updates after the cut off date could render the  offline mode a no go as well

 

Cheer 

Rhys

 

[Luis Hernandez 570]

Don't worry about updates for FSX-SE: there has been none since its launch in 2014. Well, maybe the beta, but Dovetail did nothing with this afterwards. My biggest concern would be reinstalling...

[JonP01 104]

On 5/1/2023 at 5:02 PM, Reco01 said:

Hi all

With Steam announcing its shutting access for windows 7 next Jan would it still be  playable  in offline mode after that date. I would still like to run a PC on windows 7 as I have other software that is not compatible with win10

I have tested and I can play in offline mode but I assume steam updates after the cut off date could render the  offline mode a no go as well

 

Cheer 

Rhys

 

You might find that the Steam client updates that will enforce these changes were actually being made a couple of months before the announcement. This was possibly to prevent people trying to "bypass" the system and remain with Windows 7 indefinitely.

I can't remember which version of the client it was but I believe it was one from very late last year. I suspect that unless your machine does not have an updated client since that time, you may find that your Windows 7 machine will no longer work in truly offline mode once that 2024 cut off date passes. What I mean by that is never even needing an internet connection at all to play FSX. The previous clients still enabled fully offline game play indefinitely. Then the client changed at the end of last year and although you could still play a game "offline", you could only go offline each time by being online before starting the game, then moving into offline mode when actually playing the game. This was a critical change to the previous Steam clients up to late 2022.

I have always been careful to make regular drive images and I picked up on this early this year. As a result, with my current setup, if I do actually have to go online with my Windows 7 FSX machine (very rare indeed), I will disable the Steam client from even being able in load in the first place - because if you ever go online for any reason - it will automatically update to the newest version even if you are not using it or playing any games. And once it is updated, there is no going back unless you have an old drive image.

The simplest explanation - if you have been online with a Windows 7 machine and Steam running in the last 5 months or so it is likely already too late for you unless you have a system backup from perhaps around December last year (exact date I am unsure of).

Edited May 26, 2023 by JonP01