If PC users want to keep using their Steam libraries, they may need to upgrade their version of Windows as Steam will stop working on Windows 7 or 8.
This week, Valve announced that starting on January 1, 2024, Steam will stop working on Windows 7 or 8. According to the company’s brief advertisement, “The Steam client will no longer work on these versions of Windows after that date.”
In January 2023, Microsoft stopped offering support for both operating systems. Additionally, recent GPUs from AMD and Nvidia are no longer supported on Windows 7 or Windows 8 as of a certain date.
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This change will have an impact on a small but significant number of Steam users. According to Valve’s own February 2023 survey, 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 account for just under 2% of total Steam usage.
In comparison to Windows 10 and Windows 11 (nearly 95 percent), all macOS versions combined account for only 2.37 percent, and all Linux versions combined (including Steam Deck) account for only 1.27 percent. Percent.
Compared to Windows 10 and Windows 11, which account for almost 95% of all installations, that represents a pitiful 2.37 percent for macOS and a meagre 1.27 percent for Linux, including Steam Deck. Percent.
The built-in Chromium-based browser that Steam uses to display the Steam store and other UI elements is the main offender, according to Valve. Around the same time that Microsoft ended support for Windows 7 and Windows 8 earlier this year, Chrome stopped supporting those two operating systems.
Instead of waiting until the deadline in January 2024, Valve advises upgrading to a newer version of Windows right away. This is mainly because these PCs are currently unpatched and more susceptible to malware.
