If you’re still holding onto Windows 7 or 8 while enjoying your favorite Steam games, it might be time to think about making the switch to a newer operating system.
In today’s fast-paced tech world, everything has an expiration date, especially operating systems. Companies like Microsoft and Apple eventually phase out support for older systems as the number of active users dwindles. This trend also applies to software developers, such as Valve, which has been delivering games on Steam since the Windows XP era. Back in January, Valve announced the end of official support for Windows 7 and 8, meaning that Steam Support can no longer provide technical assistance for issues on these aging operating systems.
Fast forward 11 months (thanks to a heads up from PC Gamer), and we’ve reached a point where Windows 7 and 8 users face their first undownloadable Steam update. As the update notes, “This version of the Steam client will no longer run on Windows 7 or Windows 8.” Unfortunately, those clinging to these older OSs won’t receive automatic updates for this new Steam Client version. While reasons like budget constraints might keep some users on older systems, this decision aligns with current trends—the October Steam hardware survey revealed only 0.29% of users are still on Windows 7.
Interestingly, the survey also found a grand total of zero users still on Windows 8, which might not come as a surprise given its less-than-stellar reputation. It’s a bit unexpected that Valve took its time making this move, especially as the number of people migrating to the latest from Microsoft, Windows 11, continues to grow. But sometimes, these decisions take a bit longer to roll out than we expect.
