Running Qt6 application on windows xp and 7?

Taytoo · 29 May 2022, 15:12

Currently on 5.12 LTS branch, planning on switching to 6.2 LTS. Would it still be possible to run my statically linked application on windows xp and 7? If not, Is there a 'hack' etc that I can use to target windows xp or at least windows 7 - since its widely used still.

JonB · 30 May 2022, 07:24

@Taytoo
I don't know, but if you have an application which targets/supports Windows 7 & XP why in the world would you want to "upgrade" to Qt6?

mrjj · wrote on 29 May 2022, 15:26

Hi
Win Xp will not. Qt5.6 was the last to work there - as far as I know.
Win 7/8 is not supported
https://www.qt.io/blog/qt6-development-hosts-and-targets

That said, it might run as static but I have not tested it.

Taytoo · 30 May 2022, 07:31

@JonB said in Running Qt6 application on windows xp and 7?:

@Taytoo
I don't know, but if you have an application which targets/supports Windows 7 & XP why in the world would you want to "upgrade" to Qt6?

Mainly to get bug fixes and security patches.

Christian Ehrlicher · T Taytoo 30 May 2022, 07:24

@Taytoo said in Running Qt6 application on windows xp and 7?:

Mainly to get bug fixes and security patches.

Then you have to upgrade your OS too since there are a lot of more security issues there than in your outdated Qt version. Or maybe ask TQtC for paid support.

JonB · 31 May 2022, 07:22

@Taytoo
You know for certain that this software will not have been developed or tested for Qt6 under Win XP or 7, and that those are not supported by Qt6. I would have thought that is more of a risk than sticking at 5.12 LTS (better there is a 5.15 LTS). And you never know when something new in Qt6 might suddenly break for XP/7. But a matter of opinion, I guess.

Taytoo · 31 May 2022, 07:29

@JonB I guess it makes more sense to upgrade to 5.15 LTS and stay there for a while until Win 7 gets phased out.

Alternatively, I'll need 2 separate exes, one compiled using 5.15LTS and other using Qt6, which will create a code management nightmare.

J.Hilk · 31 May 2022, 07:39

@Taytoo said in Running Qt6 application on windows xp and 7?:

Win 7 gets phased out

that already happened

Windows 7 support ended on January 14, 2020

Taytoo · J J.Hilk 31 May 2022, 07:29

@J-Hilk Yes, but a lot of people (12%) are still using Windows 7 so I have to support that platform. Windows XP (0.44%) I can do without.

Source: https://gs.statcounter.com/os-version-market-share/windows/desktop/worldwide

cristian-adam · wrote on 31 May 2022, 08:08

Have a look at https://forum.qt.io/topic/133002/qt-creator-6-0-1-and-qt-6-2-2-running-on-windows-7

You can have two options:

Patch Qt iteself to remove the changes that made Windows 10 as a requirement
Use MinGW and have a small dll implementing the missing functions on Windows 7, see https://github.com/cristianadam/api-ms-win-core-synch-Win7

Note that for 2. I only started Qt Creator 7.0.1 in a Windows 7 virtual machine. It's more of a proof of concept.