Tuesday, March 28th 2023
Valve Discontinuing Steam Support on Windows 7/8/8.1 as of 2024
Valve has confirmed that its Steam platform will no longer support the Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 operating systems as of January 1st, 2024. Valve discontinued support for Windows XP and Windows Vista back in 2019.
Valve says that after that date, the Steam Client will no longer run on those versions of Windows and users will need to update to a more recent release. The reason behind such a move, according to Valve, is that the newest features in Steam rely on an embedded version of Google Chrome which no longer functions on older versions of Windows, and that the future of Steam will require Windows features and security updates only present in Windows 10 and above.
Source:
Steam
Valve says that after that date, the Steam Client will no longer run on those versions of Windows and users will need to update to a more recent release. The reason behind such a move, according to Valve, is that the newest features in Steam rely on an embedded version of Google Chrome which no longer functions on older versions of Windows, and that the future of Steam will require Windows features and security updates only present in Windows 10 and above.
77 Comments on Valve Discontinuing Steam Support on Windows 7/8/8.1 as of 2024
I like the idea of a "Steam Classic", but if it means detracting already thinly spread resources from the main client, i'll give it a pass
I would genuinely love to hear your case out.
Clicking it will link directly to the Steam Support article in the OP. EGS will drop it eventually, the market is moving on.
for people who are interested, here:
BypassESU-v12
Win7 WU ESU Patcher
(archive pw for both: 2023)
windows 7 is dead? NO! for me this is absolutely perfect, next year i will switch to win 11 then so i don't care about the win 7 support end of steam
That patcher is technically piracy, by the way. This update stream is paid and not supposed to be accessed by end users. Not that I don't think Microsoft should have released the security updates for everyone regardless...
In addition:
- Drivers haven't been developed for it in several years
-It's impossible to run it with newer generation hardware
- Software developers have abandoned it
- With the loss of Chrome, you're now running an OS that can't run something as simple as Spotify, think about that for a second
Stop resisting. You're not cool by being a contrarian. Learn Linux if you dislike Windows 10 and 11 that much.
Windows 7 for consumers (and enterprise other than offline systems for that matter) is dead, workarounds don't mean shit when it comes to asking companies like valve to maintain support for it.
It's also literally exactly what every naysayer of Steam said would happen, and that Valve promised wouldn't happen.
(At least I feel confirmed in my seemingly insane feelings about Gaben retiring to New Zealand. "The Game Was Rigged From the Start")
A low-security fork with limited features, using 'authorization tokens' for decrypting games (generated from Steam on Android, iOS, or supported-Windows PC) would be a finaglesome but acceptable solution. (Basically, just re-create the old License Key system, modernized)
I bet Accursed Farms will have a video on this soon; he's big on Video Game Preservation.
Still it's not a big deal. This isn't like the shift from NT 5.x/XP to modern Windows kernels.
Games that run under Windows 7 will run under 10 and 11 in 99.99% of cases, and the odd game that might not probably has a physical edition you can continue to run on an obsolete OS if you so absolutely insist.
It's a solution looking for a problem if you ask me.
Instead of viewing the tech as obsolete/eWaste, and the people 'outmoded', I began to actually appreciate the software, hardware, and the blood, sweat, and tears that went into 'em.
[sardonic]It only took me until my late 20s[/sardonic], even though I'd been an enthusiast since I was 12.
Windows 7 doesn't stop working because the world moved on; same for a 56K Modem, or Token-Ring NIC. It. still. works.
In years past "Unsupported" was merely a challenge for those technically-capable.
Now, companies (pro)actively try to kill their own older products, and remove support/features. Anyone that's okay with that, should realize they're harming themselves (in the long-term).
Storytime: One of my biggest regrets in 'eWaste' was a dual Socket 462 mobo+CPUs I was given by a tutor.
I've thrown out rarer kit, but I regret that one notably because I can consciously remember how petulant I was about it.
I'd just gotten my Core2Duo E6600 + Gb 965p-DS3 built, and was totally unimpressed by that dual-CPU workstation.
What's especially 'stupid' about the whole thing, was not but a few months later I put together a S370 build w/ leftover parts so I could have more than 1 friend over to game.
(Andrew P., I am SOOOO sorry I put you on that Tualatin Celery playing Company of Heroes and Halo w/ Chris I. and me! :laugh:)
Fantastic job ignoring just about everything I said.
Though, I don't think you truly and consciously ignored what I said: I think you genuinely cannot fathom what I've learned to value, and find it easier to dismiss me as just another stupid nostalgic.
You do you; it probably makes you money.
I'm gonna keep on learning about (and respecting) oldtech (often, that existed before I was even born), and how it has influenced tech 'till this very day.
Anything that Windows 7 can do, Windows 10 (and 11, despite my personal dislike of its stock user interface) will do better, so what's really the point?
Windows 10 and 11 cannot do everything earlier Windows' can. Neither, can they 'do better' in all scenarios where 'it does work'.
Have you tried running unsigned custom-made-by-a-real-individual-person drivers on 10 or 11?
Do you have software, peripherals, or other hardware that still is useful that just will not work (reliably) correct on newer Windows?
I have, and seen and spoken with professionals that have.
Simply put:
We value different things, and see utility in different ways.
I cannot argue with your opinions whatsoever, when in the context of IT-infrastructure.
www.geoffchappell.com/notes/security/whqlsettings/index.htm
The boot menu is still present, you just access it in a different way now (restart PC holding shift) - or you enable it on every boot by using bcdedit. I'll agree that the removal of F8 on boot is a regression but, one that is easily remedied by a... sysadmin? It takes one line on cmd to re-enable it...
You got a jackrabbit you can pull out of your hat on loading 64-bit Windows 10 or 11 on Socket 939 and Socket 940 K8s?
(I already lost a bet on this one, so; I'd genuinely be really happy if ya did)
-Or will you just write off one of the biggest (r)evoloutionary leaps in personal computing as obsolete eWaste?
en.wikichip.org/wiki/amd/infinity_fabric I guess Ryzen and EPYC are trash, cuz it's based off something old....
Ryzen has almost, if not absolutely nothing related to K8, K10 and heavy equipment family of hardware, though, and even if it did, it's modernized enough. I mean I owned a 5950X until recently, don't take me for an anti-AMD person, my criticism of them lately is out of frustration and not hatred.
My s939 machines have 4x 2GB and 2x 4GB DDR and my dual s940 has 4-8x 4GB DDR. A 32-bit OS 'aint cutting the mustard
(unless it was WinServer 2003 or 2009)
learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/memory/memory-limits-for-windows-releases
My PoV is not one purely of nostalgia; it's enthusiasm for technology and intrigue in the evolutionary brick-laying of new upon old. -There's also a pinch of historical preservation, mixed in.