DCS with Windows 10 after 10/2025

[BJ55]

Lately I often read the suggestion "Windows 10 will be EOL Oct 14th 2025. Upgrade to Windows 11", for a lot of valid reasons I have no intentions of enabling TPM and use a online account just to downgrade to W10+1, my question is: will DCS continue to run and receive updates on W10 machines in the following 2-3 years?

Best regards.

[bfr]

Whilst there isn't any reason that DCS on Windows 10 would just stop working, its difficult to see why they'd be too bothered about continuing to support a platform once it is itself unsupported if something did come out of left field.

Edited May 13 by bfr

[MiG21bisFishbedL]

It should still work for sometime to come, but like with Windows 7? The end will arrive. That said, by the time it does? We're looking at 2-3 years minimum. There's a good chance you'll be seeking a new system out, anyways.

[sleighzy]

The general reason the log analyzer has that message is that the recommendation is to use Windows 11 (and disable core parking) as this has better support for hybrid CPUs (P/E cores). This will be more performant as DCS will select the best cores to run things on, and Windows 10 may mis-report these which is why people sometimes get stutters (and use Process Lasso so that they can set which cores should be used).

[BJ55]

Performance: my previous tests revealed that W10+1 had a 5% performance loss compared to W10 (with some SW it was unusable because of intel thread director issues), maybe updating BIOS and chipset drivers now could put it on par with W10, maybe I could obtain a 2% performance gain, but this won't solve the latest DCS performance issues, look at the bugs section, plenty of W10+1 users reporting problems.
Mandatory TPM: let's add another layer of vulnerabilities to the existing ones! If MS is so concerned about security why the multiple-times-leveraged useless BITS service is still around? https://thehackernews.com/2024/08/new-windows-backdoor-bitsloth-exploits.html
Btw, TPM already had been used for the wrong purpose https://www.extremetech.com/gaming/326740-riot-will-use-windows-11s-tpm-2-0-requirement-to-ban-cheaters-from-valorant and had/have flaws  https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/new-tpm-20-flaws-could-let-hackers-steal-cryptographic-keys/ , and don't get me started with mandatory online accounts and passkeys https://tinyapps.org/blog/passkeys-touted.html or all the (resources consuming) bloatware that MS is forcing to all OS users.
Sorry, still no reasons to downgrade, Microsoft is disgusting.

[draconus]

10 minutes ago, BJ55 said:

Sorry, still no reasons to downgrade, Microsoft is disgusting.

I find slight traces of unpositive vibes against Windows 11 in your post or is it just a false feeling I get?

[BIGNEWY]

Just a few points

Windows 10 is coming to the end of its life, it will become an unsupported OS. 

Windows 11 had a performance boost on my system, it handles CPU cores better than windows 10. 

Like with many things time moves on and the hardware and software moves with it, you either move or you do not

Eventually windows 10 will no longer work with DCS, the same happened with windows 7, but I do not know when.

thanks 

 

[LucShep]

3 hours ago, BIGNEWY said:

Just a few points

Windows 10 is coming to the end of its life, it will become an unsupported OS. 

Windows 11 had a performance boost on my system, it handles CPU cores better than windows 10. 

Like with many things time moves on and the hardware and software moves with it, you either move or you do not

Eventually windows 10 will no longer work with DCS, the same happened with windows 7, but I do not know when.

thanks 

 

Sorry for hijacking the thread but it's kind of related.

Linux distros such as Bazzite, Fedora, Nobara, Pop!_OS (among few others), and soon SteamOS coming to desktop, will present free direct alternatives to Win11 (if not already), more so when AMD hardware (CPUs, GPUs) is among the most widely used and seem really well supported on them.

Because of a growing dislike towards Win11, and with more people converting to OSs based on Linux, also because other game devs are already doing it, it begs the question: 

Is ED already considering some sort of testing, towards potential support, of DCS on Linux?  @BIGNEWY
 

Edited Tuesday at 11:29 AM by LucShep

[BIGNEWY]

Hi LucShep

Other OS's are something we will consider after vulkan is implemented. But for now windows is only supported. 

 

[Hiob]

Should DCS eventually migrate to Linux, that would be awesome! 

Microsoft can gtfo, as far as I'm concerned! 

[LucShep]

16 minutes ago, BIGNEWY said:

Hi LucShep

Other OS's are something we will consider after vulkan is implemented. But for now windows is only supported. 

 

OK, that's understandable.  Thanks for responding to that.  

 

10 minutes ago, Hiob said:

Should DCS eventually migrate to Linux, that would be awesome! 

Microsoft can gtfo, as far as I'm concerned! 

Ditto!

Recently tried a pretty potent gaming PC with Bazzite (Linux Distro) and, for gaming and general use, to say that I was extremely impressed is an understatement.

I'm not so sure anymore that I'll upgrade to Win11 from Win10 at the end of this year...
 

Edited Tuesday at 09:33 AM by LucShep

[Hiob]

44 minutes ago, LucShep said:

OK, that's understandable.  Thanks for responding to that.  

 

Ditto!

Recently tried a pretty potent gaming PC with Bazzite (Linux Distro) and, for gaming and general use, to say that I was extremely impressed is an understatement.

I'm not so sure anymore that I'll upgrade to Win11 from Win10 at the end of this year...
 

I'm on W11 for a while now. And honestly it doesn't make a big difference. It's mostly W10 under the hood anyway. Having W10 at work and W11 at home, I barely notice the switch.
It doesn't help either way, Windows is going down. Everything that is important/private and available I do on a VM anyway. That leaves primarily gaming and CAD to Windows.

Recall is the final nail in the coffin for me.

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

On 5/13/2025 at 5:53 PM, BJ55 said:

online account

Just as a side note: you can use W11 perfectly fine without M$ account: I have an offline account for my W11 and have done so since it launched. Sure, M$ makes it harder with every major patch they release but there will always be backdoors.

[SharpeXB]

8 hours ago, LucShep said:

Because of a growing dislike towards Win11, and with more people converting to OSs based on Linux

“Growing” is a relative thing. Linux still only has a +/- 2% market share for gaming. I can’t see how it would be cost effective to add compatibility and ongoing support for such small numbers. Very large games could absorb such costs but I imagine DCS is too small for this.

[LucShep]

4 hours ago, SharpeXB said:

“Growing” is a relative thing. Linux still only has a +/- 2% market share for gaming. I can’t see how it would be cost effective to add compatibility and ongoing support for such small numbers. Very large games could absorb such costs but I imagine DCS is too small for this.

I'm not sure where those stats are coming from.

Estimating the exact number of Linux users is challenging but, AFAIK, and as of early 2025, Linux accounts for about 4.5% of the global desktop operating system market share.
Additionally, and while irrelevant for this matter, Linux powers 85% of smartphones through Android, indicating a significant user base in mobile devices as well, which means total dominance in that market. 

The number of gaming computers using latest free Linux distros (Bazzite, Fedora, Nobara, Pop!_OS, etc) is unknown. But I'm pretty sure that is more relevant than you and I account them for - and should account for higher than the estimated 4.5% of global desktop OS market share.
So much so that game devs have started aiming for Linux compatibility (among others, check Gaijin Interactive, producers of a flight game that shall not be named).

SteamOS (which is a Linux distro) is already the dominating OS in handheld consoles, and will soon be made available for desktop. This is not a minor thing, quite the opposite.

Then you have very polished and user friendly distros, such as Bazzite - which, quite frankly, already puts a lot of question marks on the validity of Windows.
Have you tried it?  I did and found that it's mind-blowing on how far things have evolved. It is no longer a "OS thing made for nerds".

There are more users trying and then migrating to such alternatives every day, exactly because people are tired of Windows shenanigans and inconveniences, with increasing (intrusive) barriers, bloatware, plus the intermitent mishaps from Windows updates. 

If you get a Linux distro already doing most things that Windows can do for the average user, and is made for free, while being far more lightweight and well tuned from the start (actually, already better gaming performance with AMD GPUs), constantly being improved, on and on, then it's just a matter of time that the mindset and market share towards it changes. Thus, software (games, drivers, peripherals) compatibility as well.
 

Edited Tuesday at 09:42 PM by LucShep

[Rudel_chw]

31 minutes ago, LucShep said:

Estimating the exact number of Linux users is challenging but, AFAIK, and as of early 2025, Linux accounts for about 4.5% of the global desktop operating system market share.

 

the Steam user survey shows only 2.3% employ linux 

 

https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/Steam-Hardware-Software-Survey-Welcome-to-Steam

 

 

[LucShep]

1 minute ago, Rudel_chw said:

 

the Steam user survey shows only 2.3% employ linux 

https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/Steam-Hardware-Software-Survey-Welcome-to-Steam

 

Sure, and the Steam user survey also indicates 0.12% (as in "zero point twelve") of Windows 7 users.
A system that so many still use today - put that in perspective. 
 

[SharpeXB]

33 minutes ago, LucShep said:

I'm not sure where those stats are coming from.

From here: 
https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey

This is the customer base DCS is selling to. They mostly don't use Linux for obvious reasons. Flight sim players probably even less so because they depend on so many peripherals that might not work with anything but Windows. 

 

[LucShep]

2 hours ago, SharpeXB said:

From here: 
https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey

This is the customer base DCS is selling to. They mostly don't use Linux for obvious reasons. Flight sim players probably even less so because they depend on so many peripherals that might not work with anything but Windows. 

 

Sure, but that is another point of matter.

Wether you consider Linux visible growth as a "relative thing" or not, or cost effective to add compatibility and ongoing support for it (for what may not be small numbers of users in the mid/long term) is irrelevant for this matter.  You're not ED.  Or are you a shareholder and we don't know it? 

DCS will run on Vulkan at some point ahead, and we know it's still in development (for some years now).

Vulkan is a cross-platform API, and what is used on Linux for gaming.

Add to that there are many Win10 users here and out there unhappy with it being EOL (unwillingly forced onto Win11 migration), who may find some Linux distros quite appealing later as alternatives (I am also one of those considering it).

It made sense to question if ED is already considering some sort of testing, towards potential support, of DCS on Linux.
It was already answered (above, by Bignewy) that it will be considered after Vulkan is implemented, and for now only Windows is supported. 
It's a vague answer but understandable why it had to be, and for now it will have to do as good enough.
 

Edited Tuesday at 09:34 PM by LucShep

[SharpeXB]

1 hour ago, LucShep said:

Sure, but that is another point of matter.

That’s the only thing that matters. It’s really simple math. The extra cost of such compatibility and support would have to be paid for. If those costs are low enough it might be worthwhile. But if Linux wouldn’t add enough customers then it’s not. It’s a and dilemma. ED doesn’t set the market they just follow it. In all likelihood this will never be profitable. 

[Rudel_chw]

3 hours ago, LucShep said:

You're not ED.  Or are you a shareholder and we don't know it? 

I was just adding a data point to your estimate, no other motivation, so no need for sarcasm.

[Aapje]

I think that SteamOS is the premiere Linux platform for gaming, and no one is going to play DCS on a Steam Deck. So most other types of games make much more sense to make Linux-compatible than flight sims.

[MustangSally]

Linux OS.....prob not in the next 20yrs!

[pete_auau]

wont bother me since i will be upgrading my pc in Oct, just a matter to decide what to go for  for the upgrade

[LucShep]

2 hours ago, Rudel_chw said:

I was just adding a data point to your estimate, no other motivation, so no need for sarcasm.

I think you misunderstood that. That quote you got there was a reply to SharpeXB (post below your previous one), not to you.

If you noticed, my reply to yours had no sarcasm.  And had no other motivation than to make a case to say that Linux OS (through distros), as little or far-fetched as it is right now for gaming, isn't so insignificant anymore.

 

Edited Wednesday at 01:44 AM by LucShep