Well, GOG doesn't really support Windows 7, but not being able to play Windows 7 games on the system they were designed for because the client won't run that allows you to run them ... I can see how that sucks. They could at least offer a legacy client (without further updates) that runs on Windows 7.
Of course it's possible to crack the games if needed, but that should not be necessary.

I also got about 600 Steam games (and I guess about 400 on Epic), that's a manageable number. Going through that list to find Games available on GOG should not take longer than a few hours max.
You just need a way to export your list of Steam games in text form, the rest is easy.

That's how I created my spreadsheet which I use to keep track of what I own where (so far, I want to replace it with a database, evaluation formulas take too long now).

Ultimately, reality is what it is. Windows 7 is a legacy OS that is no longer supported/maintained. It's clear what Microsoft intend to do with their Windows OS - if you don't like it, there are other options.

We already passed that point. Neither Ryzen processors nor Core processors (Kaby Lake or newer) support Windows 7.

There are workarounds to install windows 7 on those systems (easiest if you have a motherboard with PS2 keyboard and mouse ports), but it's painful to do, certainly not supported and hasn't been for some time.

That 1% on the steam hardware survey? Regardless of what they do in 2024, it's only going in one direction.

On the other points on this thread... Could MS prevent the install of unsigned applications at some point in the future? It's possible. Does that worry me? Not really - if they do it, I'll start dual booting between Windows and a different OS to make sure I've still got access to my files.

Would I go through the pain of trying to keep an OS running well beyond the end of its life that isn't receiving any security fixes on modern hardware that's connected to the internet? God no - that feels like it's asking for trouble.

Interesting. Thanks for the answers. Be as it may - should I finally decide to fully switch over - it will be on Linux.

This type of stuff is exactly why OLD games that can often be had in sales for dirt-cheap on regular basis on DRM-allowed services like Steam, Epic, etc should ALWAYS have their DRM removed when stuff like this is going to go down.

People w/ old hardware and maybe can't afford to upgrade or they don't have great Internet access are at a loss, as now can't play their old-games, even they for some reason are STILL protected by DRM, client-app DRM, and other non-sense.

And it should be on the dev's and pub's to go back into their classics and make sure these games can work without any client-app required, without DRM, and stuff of that sort - and that ESPECIALLY goes for Single-Player portions of games.

And this should ALSO go for DLC's, too - I'm looking at you and your DLC's, The Outer Worlds on Epic...whose base-game works DRM-FREE style but DLC's don't work unless that client-app of Epic's going.

Also why it's always great to see DRM-FREE versions wind-up over on GOG that can work w/out any non-sense involved too.

It's always great to see say games like Gone Home that are on Steam able to work Single-player style without Steam running and just by booting the EXE directly, when you got companies like Valve w/ Steam deciding to end support on W8.1 and older for Steam.

Gamers shouldn't have to resort to other methods just to get old games they paid for working all b/c some silly anti-tamper DRM, regular DRM and/or client-app DRM is in the way.

This may sound like a stupid question, but re: GOG offline installers Windows versions, is it possible to use them in Linux and thus play the "Windows version installation" of a game but in Linux? (as opposed to downloading and running the Linux version offline installers).

Yes.

Every one of my GOG games is installed/downloaded like this. I also use "lgogdownloader" for convenience to automatically grab all the offline installers.

Depending on your comfort level:
a) You could use Lutris, which will also download those installers for you and setup the game. Although, it might be a bit buggy. Cloud Saves are not supported, but you'll see all your games within Lutris and can select which ones to install.

b) You could use Heroic Games Launcher, which again you can login to your GOG account so that it downloads and installs the games for you. Although, this one supports Cloud Saves.

c) You could just download the offline installer, and install them manually using Bottles, but this requires a fair bit more tinkering to get it right. (But it is my preferred option)

The advantage in any case is all the current work being done for Steam Deck to make games work, also applies to any standard Linux install, so whether you're a steam user or not, you'll benefit with all the work.

Basically, if you see "Verified On Deck" on steam, that means it'll work great on a standard Linux computer as well, as none of the work is specific to Valve / Steam and doesn't require using them.

Support is a lousy word in situations like this, as it implies more than just general compatibility for this or that OS, which leads to people justifying the drop of support for older operating systems with how difficult it would be to give tech support for old systems when most of us wishing to play old games on old systems could settle with a compromise where any OS GOG claimed this or that game to work with when they sold them to us would remain compatible with it in one way or another as long as GOG exists, for example by adding the last known working version for that OS as an unsupported extra.

the problem is that as soon gOg takes monies for a product, they have to support it. It does not matter if it is an "extra" or not. you can not have anything unsuported as part of a product.

I would only partially agree to that. We have quite some games which have the "original beta" or something like that as extra, completely unsupported. As long as the download works and can be unzipped, it's fine.

If a game is updated with a patch that changes it's system requirements 'upwards', the old version should stay available, as 'classic' maybe. Also this has been done a couple of times, just not regulary.

Win 7 might be as you say "ancient" but for some people it still works and why replace something when it works perfectly fine?.

That's perfectly fine.
But if it doesnt - meaning that new software does not run on it - it's necessary to accept the shortcomings.

Also DOS still works on 80286 PCs and it's perfectly fine to keep it running. One must accept however that on this machine he won't be able to play Counterstrike 2.

The special case we have with Steam here is that the games written for Windows 7 would still work, but they won't if the Steam client won't.
And that makes me a happy GOG customer.

I only used it cause of some games I got through Humble Choice and I finally installed my Skyrim LE retail copy that was stored for ages lol. Otherwise, I am a GOG supporter all the way! (though I did buy the GOG version of Skyrim SE to forever own the game) :)

I also use Origin, since it was the only way to play Mass Effect LE that came from another Humble Choice. Otherwise, I'd also keep my distance from this cleint too lol. I mean $11.99 for the trilogy + 2 more great titles was hard to pass up hehe.
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While I agree support for an OS shouldn't be dropped just because it's becoming unsupported, as there are plenty of people playing games on age-appropriate hardware (that's not connected to the internet), shopping on a digital store and expecting anything different, at least officially, is a recipe for disappointment.

As always, physical copies of games that came out during the hay day of an OS remain the only guaranteed alternative here.