Raising minimum target Windows version

From: Andrey Semashev (andrey.semashev_at_[hidden])
Date: 2023-10-03 23:28:51

Hi,

I'm considering raising minimum target Windows version for my libraries
to at least Windows 7. This means dropping workarounds for missing
WinAPI functions that are present (but, for a very long time now,
untested) for Windows XP.

This specifically pertains to Boost.Atomic, Boost.Filesystem and Boost.Log.

I'm also tempted to raise the requirement to Windows 8 to have access to
WaitOnAddress & co., but I'm hesitant since Windows 7 might still be
wide spread (perhaps, not on desktop but embedded).

The current plan is to announce this in the release notes for the
upcoming 1.84 release and drop the support in 1.85. This will mean the
dependent libraries and tools will similarly drop support for older
Windows versions.

Additionally, I'm proposing to raise the default target Windows version
in Boost.WinAPI to Windows 10, provided that the Windows SDK that is
detected in compile time supports it. This means that by default many
Boost libraries that rely on Boost.WinAPI for WinAPI definitions will
target Windows 10. Which, in particular, means the prebuilt binaries we
distribute will require Windows 10, unless libraries take explicit
measures to stay compatible with older versions.

I have no fixed time frame for the proposed Boost.WinAPI change, but it
could be done as soon as in 1.84, since this doesn't remove anything,
just changing the default.

Comments? Objections? Counter-proposals? I'm especially interested in
comments regarding Windows 7 as the new baseline - am I being too
conservative?

Thanks.