iTunes 12.6.5.3 on windows 7 no longer appears to have app support

[toughguystudios]

Hey, windows 7 on a virtual machine was my go to and I had no problem 2 months ago, but now when I try just to download any app via ipa file from itunes 12.6.53 under purchased I receive an error that says:

iTunes can't verify the identity of the server "iosapps.itunes.apple.com". The certificate for this server was signed by an unknown certifying authority.

Is this method now obsolete and/or did Apple probably lock everything down? Or will this work with a Windows 10 machine? thanks.

[randompasser]

Windows 7 is out of support for more than 5 years. Its root certificate authorties have not been updated in that time and now unable to validate Apple's current signing certificates which results in the error you're experiencing.

Install this update from Microsoft and try again, or just just use a Windows 10/11 VM.