Add Support for x32-bit/x86 Windows Devices

[Zorono]

[laanwj]

Sorry, x86_32 is on the way out. The last release that shipped binaries for 32-bit x86 Windows was 0.17.1. It was removed in #15939. See #15939 (comment)

This was bound to be a somewhat controversial decision: however one architecture per platform is great for maintenance-heavy outlier platforms such as Windows (and MacOSX). This allows for more focus in testing and, and hopefully a better user experience and better security, in time. Cross-compilation to windows is fraught with some risks, and they're minimized by only having one toolchain (mingw-w64) to check.

It might still be possible to build your own binaries, but no guarantees on that either. Your best chance of running Bitcoin Core on x86-32 is using Linux or a Linux VM.

(x86-32 Linux builds might also be removed at some point in the future—#17504—though not for the same reason, so less urgently.)

[practicalswift]

@Zorono What Windows version are you using?

[Zorono]

@practicalswift Windows 8.1 N Pro

[practicalswift]

@Zorono Are security updates still provided for Windows 8.1 (x86_32 version)?

[Victorsueca]

According to Microsoft's lifecycle sheet, mainstream support for Windows 8.1 ended in January 9, 2018. However, it will still receive security updates as part of it's extended support up until January 10, 2023.

[Zorono]

@practicalswift yes
@Victorsueca that's sad news for me :(