“Just a heads up. Soon (hopefully) we will be switching Windows nightly builds to Python 3
Python 3.8+ and above use api that requires a minimum of Windows 8 and can crash attempting to run on Windows 7”.
This post, dated Jan 2021, states that KiCad 6.0 is soon moving to require windows >8
judging by the release dates on: Downloads | KiCad EDA
This wouldmean that Kicad 6.6.0 should still work on win 7, but when I try and run it I get a message box saying that this software requires windows 8 and above, so, What gives?
And, before yu say “just upgrade” - Its not my call, its my employer who refuses to modernize.
The only catch with these alternatives is, if a colleague (or boss) wishes to view your labors, they will also need a Kicad 6.0.x on their machine. Note also, Kicad 7 is due in about a month.
Stuff written in Kicad 6 cannot be opened in Kicad 5.
Having written that, this Linux is easy to either run dual boot or virtually inside windows.
I thought that is what I wrote… obviously I was not clear enough, will edit. @badassloumd explained he was in a work environment, maybe he has colleagues and bosses on Kicad 5 and is required to share his labors.
Presumably he thought of that already given that he has already expressed a desire to get v6 running. Or maybe he’s just realised compatibility is one way. Or he doesn’t have anybody to share with, it wasn’t specified. Anyway that’s a separate issue.
My comment was just a prompt in case@badassloumd hadn’t thought about those compatability issues.
He appears to spend little time on this forum, so maybe doesn’t realise the consequences of upgrading to 6.
But you wrote “these alternatives” implying that they lead to the problem when it’s something that will have to be considered in any move to v6. We don’t even know if he has colleagues working with ECAD software or is even running v5 and wants to move. Maybe he wants to get acquainted with KiCad but is lumbered with W7 and Eagle (those were mentioned).
I think that was another thread by somebody with 5.1.4. It escapes me at the moment what it was about; my memory’s not great either. Oh yeah, the guy who wanted to rename his mismaned project files.
I don’t think I have the power to remove other people’s posts. Anyway OP should understand the issue well by now, if not already.
Every now and then I have a look at 2nd hand PC’s sold by companies who specialize in re-selling ex-office equipment. These shops often have 10 to 100 or more PC’s of the same model, hardware tends to be a bit better quality then the average “homeuser pc”, and the PC’s are not abused in any way and often look as new. Prices start from around EUR150 including a Windoze 10 license.
Another option is to use a virtual machine and run Linux, but that may be a time consuming way to set up. I’ve quit Windoze completely and switched to Linux around 8 to 10 years ago, and the only problem is that more exotic software does not always run on linux, but for me the advantages of Linux are a clear winner.
Some time ago I saw a review about both some Risc-V pc and a Raspi. The Risc-V was a bit slow, and this was demonstrated by applying the “lava filter” in Gimp with a default picture resolution. The Risc-V needed some 40+ seconds, while the Raspi could do it in just over 20 seconds.
That made me curious, and I also ran that filter on my desktop PC, which finished it in about 3, and during that time the cpu utilization bar barely got above 30%. Most of the filter was probably done on one thread of the 6cores / 12 threads available.
If other hardware is considered, then a 2nd hand PC is a much better option than such a severely constrained device. Those small Linux devices have their place, but desktop use is barely among them.
Jan 2021 there were no V6 yet, but nightlies were marked as 5.99 version (like now we have 6.99). But as all knew that 5.99 will be 6.0 when released someone writing the post just said that V6 will not run on Win7.
Well it takes only a small reading slip to think that the deprecation announcement came a month after 6.0 was released when it was actually almost a year before. Somedays I have to pause to remember if something happened in '20, '21 or '22; was it when delta slammed shut the borders, or was it the omicron lockdown, or the recent surge of variants?
Install him KiCad V5.1.12 (you can find it in link you already got). It is also good software.
If he refuses to modernize than he probably will not appreciate the differences between V6 and V5
Because of having Win7 I was half year late with V6 (started from 6.0.6) and spend only one day working with V6 so I also had no time to appreciate V6
I still have 5.1.12 at 2 PCs and 6.0.9 at one.
Oh yeah, the guy who wanted to rename his mismaned project files.
