Windows 8 (64-bit) and FFXI - Do They Work Well Together?

[Windblade]

I'm expecting new computer hardware and Windows 8 (64-bit) (NON-Professional) sometime today. Is anyone having issues running FFXI in Windows 8?

Oh, and please don't tell me to get Windows 7. Sorry to have to include that, but the few times I've asked about Windows 8 concerning other concerns, invariably, someone replies and tells me to get rid of Windows 8 and go with 7. I've used DOS, Windows 3.11, Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows XP. I skipped Windows ME, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. I got Windows 8 because I wanted it and I like the way it looked and operated at the store. I'm going to use Windows 8, even if some people hate me for it. (LOL)

Thanks,
Windblade (Odin)

[oliveira]

The only "modern" (read here Windows NT based) OS FFXI works 100% correctly with is Windows XP.

For Windows Vista you need a specific version of PlayOnline (downloadable from POL Website).

Windows 7 it "works" and a lot of people are able to play but you have problems with recent video cards drivers due to DirectX legacy being (improperly) software emulated.

Windows 8 seems to have the same issues as Windows 7.

All of the above mentioned problems be related to how Microsoft and the graphic card manufacturers are dealing with the legacy support on the modern DirectX implementations and this game not getting updated from DirectX8 (which is now 12 years old)...

[Alhanelem]

FFXI works fine on Win7 x64. No idea about windows 8 but windows 8 sucks mithra tails so you should delete it and install a better operating system, like DOS or maybe Win7.

[Ziyyigo-Tipyigo]

The only "modern" (read here Windows NT based) OS FFXI works 100% correctly with is Windows XP.

/cough2k/cough

And FFXI is old enough that I wouldn't be surprised if it ran fine on NT4 as well.

For Windows Vista you need a specific version of PlayOnline (downloadable from POL Website).

Non-issue for currently published versions of the game (e. g. the download version of Ultimate Collection--Abyssea Edition). If I remember correctly, this should only be a problem for versions older than the 2008 Vana'diel Collection (the first to bundle WotG).

Windows 7 it "works" and a lot of people are able to play but you have problems with recent video cards drivers due to DirectX legacy being (improperly) software emulated.

Now there's a question: would these issues still be present if you're using XP (i.e. non-Aero) drivers?

[oliveira]

/cough2k/cough

I really meant NT as non 9x based OS. Anyway Windows 2000 was the trade name for Windows NT version 5.00...

For an extensive list of Windows NT versions refer to the table here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_NT

[Alhanelem]

You only need the updated POL installer if you are still using the original discs. If you bought the game online in digital format, you don't need it.

[Carth]

My friend has Windows 8 and it works as if you were on Win7 or Vista. He has the occasional crash here and there, but overall it works fine.

[Economizer]

What this person says is pretty spot on:

All of the above mentioned problems be related to how Microsoft and the graphic card manufacturers are dealing with the legacy support on the modern DirectX implementations and this game not getting updated from DirectX8 (which is now 12 years old)...

The very basic answer here is that there is nothing wrong with Windows 7 or Windows 8 when running the game, but that SE refuses to update the way the game is coded for the PC.

Every time FFXI crashes because you hit CTRL+ALT+DEL to lock your computer or have a UAC prompt (user elevation on a temporary independent desktop environment is good thing despite what computer illiterates would say) once in a blue moon to update software, I'm reminded of how much SE could do to make this game run better on the PC. Small touches like not terminating the client when those things happen would make this game feel hundreds of times more modern.

It is more of a miracle on Microsoft's and Intel/Nvidia/AMD's part that FFXI runs on modern operating systems at this point, although I'm looking forward to this changing in the future as SE takes more responsibility for making the PC version of this game run better.

I won't tell you what OS to use because I am not so obtuse that I equate slight UI changes making a modern OS garbage however.

Use what you want, and always lobby SE to continue its support of the PC platform. I've seen the FFXI box promise to run on 2000/XP, and the website even drops mention of 2000, listing only XP/Vista/7 currently, but this game runs on Windows 98 (although I haven't seen an install since around WotG era days to hard confirm), to Windows 8, so until SE starts dropping support for older operating systems by bringing in more features (it is likely this game would still run on Windows 98 even if it used DirectX 9, so those days are likely to be a long ways), I don't really think picking what new Windows OS you want to run this game on should be an unreasonable demand.

[Teraniku]

FFXI works fine on Win7 x64. No idea about windows 8 but windows 8 sucks mithra tails so you should delete it and install a better operating system, like DOS or maybe Win7.

Lol Running Windows 8 (64 bit) and FFXI runs fine, granted I use Classic shell so it boots directly to the desktop after I sign in, so it's like running Windows 7 with a smaller footprint, but YMMV.

[Windblade]

Sorry, though I started this thread, I had a WinXP problem and had to reinstall the whole OS.

So I know there's a PlayOnline viewer for Windows 7, but I haven't seen one for Windows 8. I'm assuming I just download the Windows 7 version of the PlayOnline Viewer, then, and use that in Windows 8?