The Go Programming Language

Go is an open source programming language that makes it easy to build simple, reliable, and efficient software.

The canonical Git repository is located at https://go.googlesource.com/go. There is a mirror of the repository at https://github.com/golang/go.

Unless otherwise noted, the Go source files are distributed under the BSD-style license found in the LICENSE file.

Fork alert!

You are viewing a fork right now that adds support for older Windows Versions. Currently this is Windows XP (NT 5.1) and Windows 7 (NT 6.1). The code is in the desired branches you can check out.

Current Branches

Windows XP

release-branch.go1.19-nt51 Go 1.19 for Windows XP (32/64) - overwhelmingly functional
release-branch.go1.20-nt51 Go 1.20 for Windows XP (32/64) - overwhelmingly functional
release-branch.go1.21-nt51 Go 1.21 for Windows XP (32/64) - it keeps getting harder, but it still works

Windows 7

release-branch.go1.21-nt61 Go 1.21 for Windows 7 (the first one officially unsupported)

Updates

I will update a branch on request, please open an issue about it on Github if you need an updated toolchain.

Bootstrapping from another OS Example

Adapt the parameters as you need them, for example amd64->386.

git clone --branch release-branch.go1.19-nt51 --single-branch https://github.com/BieHDC/go-backports
cd go-backports/src/
GOOS=windows GOARCH=amd64 ./bootstrap.bash
cd ..
cd ..
-> copy go-windows-amd64-bootstrap.tbz to the destination os
-> zip up the "go-backports" folder and copy it also to the destination os
-> unzip them to C:\
-> run these commands (and adapt the paths if you changed them)
set GOROOT_BOOTSTRAP=C:\go-windows-amd64-bootstrap
set GOROOT=C:\go
set CGO_ENABLED=0
cd C:\go\src
.\all.bat (or make.bat if you dont want tests)
-> when all goes right, you just need to follow "Install From Source" below and its done.
NOTES: Yes you need both and yes they need to be different folders, you cant bootstrap into bootstrap!

Install From Source

Run set "PATH=%PATH%;c:\go\bin in cmd.exe exactly like that and you have go available after bootstrapping. You can make that permanent with setx or use the gui.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md