How to make Flutter 3.24 run on Windows 7?

We recently introduced Flutter 3.24.5 in

1. Fix the issue with Platform.localHostname in Chinese environments

Originally, Dart used the gethostname API, which caused Platform.localHostname to fail in Chinese environments. To solve this problem, Dart switched to the GetHostNameW API, which is only available in Windows 8 and later versions. To make Flutter run on Windows 7, we need to revert this change. Note that reverting this change will affect the functionality of Platform.localHostname in Chinese environments.

Related Issue link:

3. Fix the issue where relative symbolic links to directories do not work on Windows

Dart had previously fixed the issue where relative symbolic links to directories did not work on Windows and modified the File::GetType method. This modification used the PathCchCombineEx API, which is only available in Windows 8 and later versions. To restore support for Windows 7, we also need to revert this modification.

Related Commit Link: Fix a bug where relative symlinks to directories did not work on Windows

Conclusion

To make Flutter 3.24.5 run on Windows 7, we need to revert some key modifications in Dart. These reverts will have side effects, such as affecting the use of Platform.localHostname in Chinese environments and issues with relative symbolic links. However, for users who rely on Windows 7, these reverts are necessary steps.

For full implementation, please check is how we apply the modified engine to our project.