Doesn't work on Windows 8

[jmkristian]

Although python is available on Windows 8, paracon doesn't work:

PS C:\Users\John\Desktop\paracon> python .\paracon_1.1.0.pyz
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<frozen runpy>", line 198, in _run_module_as_main
  File "<frozen runpy>", line 88, in _run_code
  File "C:\Users\John\Desktop\paracon\paracon_1.1.0.pyz\__main__.py", line 3, in <module>
  File "C:\Users\John\Desktop\paracon\paracon_1.1.0.pyz\paracon.py", line 1473, in run
  File "C:\Users\John\Desktop\paracon\paracon_1.1.0.pyz\paracon.py", line 1015, in run
  File "C:\Users\John\Desktop\paracon\paracon_1.1.0.pyz\urwid\event_loop\main_loop.py", line 337, in run
  File "C:\Users\John\Desktop\paracon\paracon_1.1.0.pyz\urwid\event_loop\main_loop.py", line 430, in _run
  File "C:\Users\John\Desktop\paracon\paracon_1.1.0.pyz\urwid\event_loop\main_loop.py", line 389, in start
  File "C:\Users\John\Desktop\paracon\paracon_1.1.0.pyz\urwid\display\common.py", line 1029, in start
  File "C:\Users\John\Desktop\paracon\paracon_1.1.0.pyz\urwid\display\_win32_raw_display.py", line 99, in _start
RuntimeError: ConsoleMode set failed for output. Err: 0
←[?1049hPS C:\Users\John\Desktop\paracon>

I guess it never will, since this type of TUI isn't supported by older versions of Windows' Command Prompt or PowerShell.

Please note this dependency up front, ideally in the README and/or the documentation front page. That will save people from going to the trouble of installing Python to no avail.

[mfncooper]

That would be an unfortunate limitation of Urwid, the TUI library on which Paracon is built. At this time, Urwid does not document the limitation either, so I was unaware of it, and I don't have Windows 8 to test against.

Given that extended support for Windows 8.1 ended almost a year and a half ago, I'm not overly concerned about this, but I can add a note somewhere. I've filed a similar request against Urwid to document it as part of their Windows limitations.

[devinhedge]

FWIW, as of January 10, 2023, Microsoft no longer provides security updates or technical support for Windows 8.1, so I wouldn't expect newer versions of Python to be as backwards compatible at some point. Checking the Python website, v3.8.x still supports Windows 8.x. The current Urwid says it requires Python 3.7+ so that doesn't seem to be an outright, no.