If you’re still holding onto Windows 7 or 8 and love diving into Steam games, it might be time to think about an upgrade.
In today’s digital world, software doesn’t last forever. This is especially true for operating systems – major companies like Microsoft and Apple inevitably decide to stop supporting out-of-date systems. This situation stretches back years, affecting even the likes of Valve, which has been dishing out games on Steam since the Windows XP days. Come January, Valve announced it would no longer provide official support for Windows 7 and 8, meaning its Steam Support would be limited in helping users tackle any issues on these aging operating systems.
Fast forward 11 months (thanks to a keen eye from PC Gamer), and we’ve hit a milestone: the first Steam update that folks on Windows 7 or 8 won’t be able to download. The update clearly states, “This version of the Steam client will no longer run on Windows 7 or Windows 8,” signalling that users on these systems will miss out on the automatic update. There are plenty of valid reasons why someone might still be clinging to Windows 7 or 8; after all, upgrading is costly, and computers aren’t exactly cheap. But looking at the statistics from October’s Steam hardware survey, a mere 0.29% of users are sticking with Windows 7.
Interestingly enough, the survey also revealed that Windows 8 has been abandoned entirely – which, given its reputation, probably won’t surprise many. It’s curious that it took Valve this long to pull the plug on support, especially as more and more gamers transition to Windows 11, Microsoft’s latest operating system. But, as the saying goes, good things come to those who wait, and sometimes these transitions just take a bit of time.
