[Scummvm-devel] Dropping Windows 9x/ME support

[Travis Howell]

ScummVM has just had another major release, so it seems like a good time 
to discuss dropping support for Windows 95/98/ME. ScummVM has offered 
Windows support as far back as Windows 95 for a long time, well beyond 
when even Microsoft dropped any support. I doubt many people are still 
using Windows 95/98/ME, other than for retro systems, where it would be 
easier to run games natively. Windows 95/98/ME won't even function on 
any modern systems, due to lack of drivers (especially for motherboard 
chipsets).

This would mean ScummVM 1.9.0 onwards would only officially support 
Windows XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10 (and onwards), with any business specific 
versions (Windows 2000/2003) been a bonus, if they keep working.

A few advantages would be:
A more recent version of GCC (4.8/4.9) and libflac (1.3.0) for MinGW 
could be used.
The compilation guide for MinGW could be updated, to use the current GCC 
version, and provide additional libraries which are compatible (due to 
ABI changes in GCC 4.7).
It would be easier to add code to take advantage of features in more 
recent Windows versions.

Any objections?