Downgrade for Windows XP compatibility

@OP- Ratty is just trying to give you some advice on what to do next.

You have IMO good reason to be pissed off. Sonos is fine to drop XP support, it's their business decision to make. But no warning is ridiculous, it should have warned you before install if only because you can't roll back.

XP risk is up to the OP and not a stick to poke him with, especially in the context of Sonos continued support of compromised samba for all users.

You know, the reason I am asking for a downgrade is not because I think it is such a great idea. And yes, I completely understand that if I did not update, I'd be at some point left behind as more and more services stopped working. Of course I know that (as a person still using Windows XP, I know it very well indeed). But there is a difference, and that is that I would have time to prepare, to make changes, and to decide at which point the benefits of staying with XP stop being worth it. As it is, I am suddenly being informed: well, we forgot to tell you, but you've just lost most of the functionality of your system. You can get it back, but it'll cost ya.

I hope that even if Sonos do not offer me a downgrade (which I still think they should in this situation), they will at least consider offering users a warning that the new version ditches some functionality (and it is up to the user to decide whether that functionality is important or not) as well as adding new features.

I do resent Ratty telling me how wrongheaded my choices are when he doesn't know (or care about) my circumstances. I am not going to get angry at people telling me I'm unlikely to get a downgrade (I even admitted that in my initial post).

I have a similar issue. Did the recent minor upgrade that had no warning about discontinued support, now my wife's older iPhone OS is unsupported. Her phone works fine and we don't want to update it, Sonos app used to work fine, now it doesn't, with no benefits.

Try sonophone app on your wife's phone to carry on controlling your sonos speakers.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sonophone/id815251931?mt=8
http://sonophone.de/

My problem is similar: the whole of my Mac Pro (running OSX7 due to it being an early 2007 model) is now inaccessible... including the music library therein. So not only will the new controller not run, but the whole machine has disappeared. OSX7 on a Mac Pro, while 10 years old does everything I need...except run Sonos.
More warning would have been nice for such a major, irreversible, change. You know, Sonos, LARGE TYPE on the upgrade page rather than the last item in the read me notes.....
I always thought Sonos was the bees knees... I am now finding that my ipad and iphone SE need re-connecting quite often and the whole of my library just disappeared. "Upgrading software" as advised by Sonos would mean a new MAC....£2k plus.....Sonos would not get my vote for user aftercare certainly

You could upload all your music to google play music, 50,000 tracks for free, and stream all your music from there.
Just sonos speakers and controllers needed then. Oh I just saved you £2k...;o))
https://play.google.com/about/music/sonos/

I am now finding that my ipad and iphone SE need re-connecting quite often and the whole of my library just disappeared.
That sounds like the kind of IP conflict which some users run into after an update. Restart the network. The library should be just as accessible via CIFS/SMB as it was before. It has nothing to do with the controller no longer running on that OS. A computer doesn't need to host a controller in order to serve music files.