Steam ends support for Windows 7 and 8

If you are still using a computer with Windows 7, 8 or 8.1we have bad news: Steam has stopped supporting these operating systems. The decision took effect on January 1, 2024, Valve confirmed in its help center.

This means that computers running the above software will no longer receive updates, not even security patches. The Steam support team will also be unable to resolve issues on these OSes, and the platform recommends that users update their computers to newer versions of Windows.

Despite the end of support for Windows 7 and 8, Steam client should continue to work. At least for a while. However, Valve indicates that it cannot guarantee how long its software will be able to run on computers with an unsupported operating system.

There are several reasons why updates for older versions of Windows may no longer be provided. Steam mentions that their client uses an integrated version of Google Chrome, which has long ceased to support Windows 7 and 8. Additionally, they point out that future versions of the platform will require security features and other capabilities only available on Windows. 10 and 11. It should be added that PCs with older versions of software are vulnerable to a large number of malware and other computer threats from which they are not protected.

Steam says goodbye to Windows 7 and 8

In any case, it is worth saying that support for Windows 7 and 8 has been discontinued. will affect a small number of users. According to a software and hardware survey conducted in December 2023, only 0.77% of Steam players were using Windows 7. While 0.06% of users relied on the 64-bit version of Windows 8.1.

In turn, 55.44% were using the 64-bit version of Windows 10, and 43.51% were playing from computers with Windows 11. This means that 98.95% of Steam users are using the latest versions of Microsoft’s Steam OS. Therefore, the impact of the decision that came into force this week will be minimal.

But be careful, Steam won’t stop at stopping support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1. Soon, The turn of older versions of macOS will also come.. Valve has announced that starting next day, macOS 10.13 and 10.14 will no longer receive updates, security patches, or technical support. February, 15.

Gabe Newell’s people explained that this was because Apple’s OS stopped supporting 32-bit applications starting with version 10.15. Considering that many developers didn’t offer 64-bit versions of their games, and over 98% of Mac users were already running macOS 10.15 or higher, it didn’t make sense to keep Steam’s active support for older versions.

So, Steam decided to start 2024 with cleaning up old software platforms. Something that will allow Valve to fully focus on optimizing the performance of its client on more modern hardware.