World of Warcraft no longer compatible with Windows 2000 in Mists of Pandaria
by Anne Stickney 
Jan 9th 2012 at 8:00PM
One of the big benefits to playing World of Warcraft has always been that it can be played on a variety of systems, from the exceptionally small and outdated to the current, top-of-the-line models. I always found that a fascinating phenomenon, and it made good sense -- after all, if you want the max number of players able to play your game, you want to make it available with the widest software and technology possible. Yet there's a drawback to this; if you want to continually make that content available for older systems, there's only so far you can go updating content.
As a game that just celebrated its seven-year anniversary, WoW absolutely needs to keep updating in order to remain competitive. With new MMOs coming out all the time, a game that is seven years old starts to lose its shine. Continuous updates make sure that it stays just as fresh as it did in 2004. You can't keep those updates rolling if you're trying to support an operating system that is now 12 years old. I think, however, we're safely in the territory where most people have moved beyond Windows 2000, so this shouldn't affect a huge majority of players, particularly when Microsoft itself has already phased out support for the operating system. What this does do, however, is make me look forward to Mists of Pandaria and what it has in store.
Bashiok
In preparation for the upcoming release of Mists of Pandaria, updates to World of Warcraft will no longer support Microsoft Windows 2000. Microsoft ceased support for this version of their operating system in 2010. Players still using Windows 2000 are encouraged to upgrade prior to the release of Mists of Pandaria.
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria is the next expansion, raising the level cap to 90, introducing a brand new talent system, and bringing forth the long-lost pandaren race to both Horde and Alliance. Check out the trailer and follow us for all the latest MoP news!
Filed under: News items, Hardware, Mists of Pandaria
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
Lennox Jan 10th 2012 1:46PM
Just one problem with your statement. This same exact thing happened before Cataclysm to Mac users who were still on Power PC machines and not on ones with Intel chips. Apple stopped supporting Power PC machines, and Blizzard followed suit, just like what they are doing here.
We got the main reasons why from Blizzard back when that happened. When the Main company stops supporting an OS or chip type, It becomes a lot harder for Blizzard to keep up with fixing the bugs.