Hello, MSFN!
I'm Vitaliy, and I born the same day as AMD Athlon XP "Thoroughbred" entered the market. I have two AMD based computers - the first has Am486DX4-100 processor and the second one has Athlon XP 1700+ (AXDA1700DUT3C) overclocked to 2200+'s frequency. I got those in 2018-2019 and finally got an opportunity to take a look at late 90s-early 00s hardware on my own, not only on YouTube.
In March 2018 I started making mods for World of Tanks, the one of the most popular MMO games in CIS countries. My target was to bring the experience of old versions of the game to the present day. Music, UI graphics, stuff like that. In September 2019 I started working on aftermarket update server for the legacy (since November 5, 2019) update utility aka WoTLauncher because Wargaming.net Game Center is a piece of *censored* that tracks everything and can ruin your game installation because it wanted to do so. And, yes, WGC is a Chromium-based browser wrapped into Qt 5 WebView combined with React, so having performance issues is common for it. Approximately 600 MB of RAM usage at peak and six processes. While the legacy launcher consumes around 40 MB at peak, runs fast and does not want to break game integrity on its own.
The most obscure thing I did to this game is running enCore RT benchmark on Windows XP SP3 (which is not supported by the game) installed on the test bench that barely meets minimal system requirements. And since I didn't have VGA to HDMI cable to plug it into capture card, I had to use S-Video output to capture screen. It literally looked like some game expo from 2005.

My "primary" OS timeline looks like this:
2009-2012: Windows XP Professional SP3
2012-middle 2013: Windows 7 Home Basic SP1
middle 2013-2014: Windows XP Professional SP3
2014-June 2015: Windows 7 Home Basic SP1
June 2015 - March 2018: Windows 8.1 Single Language with Bing (x32 before June 2016, after that I upgraded to x64)
March 2018 - May 29, 2018: KMS activated Windows 8.1 Pro
May 29, 2018 - present: Windows 8.1 Pro, retail edition without any updates (the installation media is without updates, I keep installed system updated). Got it sealed on Avito (Russian form of eBay) for $96.35 (or 6000 ₽). The original price was three times higher when Windows 8.1 Pro was available in retail.

 

Feel free to ask me any questions related to my hobby (old hardware and obscurity can be done on it and my World of Tanks projects) if you have.

Edited January 27, 20215 yr by SigmaTel71

My OS timeline was:

Born (2006)
2006 - 2012: Windows XP Home Edition (Old Sony Vaio desktop)
2012 - 2015: Windows 7 Ultimate (Family PC) + Windows 8.x Home (Mothers laptop)
2015 - Present: Windows 10 Pro on both + Windows 7 Pro Dual Boot on desktop

5 minutes ago, Tonny52 said:

Windows 10 Pro

Windows 10 failed at me if I attempted to install builds newer than 1507. I don't want to take part in that lottery again and I'd rather stay with Windows 8.1.

1 hour ago, SigmaTel71 said:

Hello, MSFN!

Hi!
At least I'm not the only Russian here! (Приветствую!)

 

Just now, MrMADRYAN said:

At least I'm not the only Russian here!

Well, the world is a small place, isn't it? 
One thing I noticed is the absence of board rules on the forum. Or I'm looking at the wrong place. Is there a link where can I take a look at them?

5 minutes ago, SigmaTel71 said:

Is there a link where can I take a look at them?

That was also interesting to me, when I registered here I saw something about rules, but it was not a list of rules as we got used to them. The only thing I can find right now is - https://msfn.org/board/forum/1-announcements/

P. S. I understood one simple thing - do NOT say about WGA/KMS activation, if you know what I mean  

6 minutes ago, MrMADRYAN said:

I understood one simple thing - do NOT say about WGA/KMS activation, if you know what I mean  

As some old meme said, "Remember, no Russian."
Personally, if I have a chance to buy a physical copy of software I like, I try to give a shot that idea. So I did and since that day I have a legal copy of Windows 8.1 Pro. In my opinion, it's always pleasure to see how things look while they are in the box.

6 minutes ago, MrMADRYAN said:

That was also interesting to me, when I registered here I saw something about rules, but it was not a list of rules as we got used to them.

I have found them. Move your cursor over "Browse" button in the top panel and click "Rules" in the dropdown list.

From Belgium, hello @SigmaTel71 and wel0come to MSFN!
I wish you enjoy the forums!
Have a nice day.
hpwamr
 

1 minute ago, hpwamr said:

I wish you enjoy the forums!

Sure I will! Thank you!