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Multi Theft Auto: San Andreas 1.5.3 might be the last release that supports Windows XP and Windows Vista. This post should help you understand why this is so and what exactly does it mean for you. Background Google has announced last year that they will be dropping support for Windows XP and Windows Vista OSes from their Chrome browser and the Chromium/Blink platform. As some of you may know, this is already in effect as you can no longer install the newer Chrome builds on machines running XP or Vista. The oldest Windows version which can run Google Chrome is Windows 7. For 1.5.3 release, we had to make a special build for players using Windows XP/Vista that would have the last released version of CEF that is compatible with those older systems, and a normal one for players with newer systems (Windows 7 and above). This normally would not be a big problem, but unfortunately several exploits were discovered that can compromise systems running older versions of Chromium (including the last one that works in XP/Vista). To ensure that our players are safe, we have updated CEF components to their newest version for the regular build, but we also provide a special build with outdated and insecure, but XP/Vista compatible CEF components. Comparison table for MTA:SA 1.5.3 Here is a little comparison table to help you understand this change: Operating System Does MTA:SA 1.5.3 work on this OS? Will MTA:SA work on this OS in the future? Windows XP YES UNKNOWN Windows Vista YES UNKNOWN Windows 7 YES YES Windows 8/8.1 YES YES Windows 10 YES YES Questions and Answers Google is dropping XP/Vista support for Chrome browser? What does this even have to do with MTA:SA? As you may know from our previous news posts, MTA:SA uses CEF (Chrome Embedded Framework) components for providing some functionality for the mod since version 1.5. Being Chromium-based, CEF components are also being phased out for users of older Operating Systems and will simply not work on them. Does MTA:SA 1.5.3 work fine on Windows XP and Windows Vista? Yes, it works fine if you install it through the legacy build. We still can not really recommend using these systems anymore due to reasons listed below. CEF compatibility issue aside, these Operating Systems (XP especially) are really old nowadays. You are putting yourself at risk if you use them as they are either no longer supported by Microsoft (XP) or the support will be discontinued soon (April 2017 - Vista). What will happen if I try to use the regular build of 1.5.3 on Windows XP/Vista? MTA:SA installer will display an error and will not let you install the mod on such systems. You will be asked to download the legacy build from our website. And what will happen if I try to use the legacy build of 1.5.3 on Windows 7 and above? Similarly, MTA:SA installer will display an error and will not let you install the mod on such systems. You will be asked to download the regular build from our website. Why couldn't you just stick to the older version of CEF then so that XP/Vista would be still supported? What about releasing two versions of the mod? A regular one with newest CEF and a legacy one with the older CEF build that still works on XP/Vista? Hey, but we actually do provide a legacy build for MTA:SA 1.5.3 for XP/Vista users with an older version of CEF components. The problem with sticking with either of these options is that we would have to continue providing a version that is vulnerable to any present and future security exploits that exist in Chromium and are already widely used. We do not want to put our users at risk because of that. CEF developers themselves do not want to provide a long-term security support for such a build either: http://www.magpcss.org/ceforum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=14187 I am playing the mod on Windows 7/Windows 8/Windows 8.1/Windows 10 or newer. Am I affected by this? No, you will not be affected at all. In fact, you will have a better experience with built-in web browser components than before due to security and performance fixes included in the newer CEF versions. I am using Windows XP/Vista and I would still like to play future versions of MTA:SA. What can I do about it? If you are using Windows XP or Windows Vista, you should upgrade your OS to a newer one. You will likely be required to do a clean install for that, so backup your stuff first. You should use these tools first to see if your PC is capable of upgrading to newer OS: Windows 7: Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Windows 8/10: Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant Is your PC toaster-tier which does not support Windows 8 or even 7? That means it is probably the right time to buy something more modern. But fear not, if you are already using Windows 7 or newer, just install the newest build of MTA:SA 1.5.3 and you are set! And if you don't want to upgrade your OS or PC, well, we will keep offering the legacy build that works on XP/Vista for a while... Conclusion Hope that this post has cleared your doubts about the status of support for Windows XP/Vista. Sorry for any inconvenience for users of these older Operating Systems but there was little we could do about it. These decisions were already made elsewhere. --MTA Team

Hi. Im a first time user of MTA:SA and this is my first message. So.. Hi everybody! I´ve installed GTA San Andreas v. 1.0 on Windows XP. Later ive downloaded MTA:SA 1.5.7 for XP/vista, and installed. All is ok, but trying to join server, the most of them shows this message "to join this server, you must update MTA". before this, prompted to update, but theres no update found. But, if 1.5.7 is the last update (also for win7+ version), why can´t i join these servers (almost all)? is because im using XP despite 1.5.7 is latest version? Please help! Thanks!