Valve has released an update for Steam that officially ends support for Windows 7 and 8 operating systems.
The update, released on November 5 that includes the ability to record games within Steam, forces those who wish to continue to use Steam to either upgrade to Windows 10 or 11. Or, if you don’t want Windows at all, you can move to MacOS or Linux.
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“This version of the Steam client will no longer run on Windows 7 or Windows 8,” the update reads. “Users on these OS versions will not automatically update to this new version of the Steam Client.”
In it’s FAQ page on the support ending, Valve says moving on from the old operating systems has to do with the security of its users.
“This change is required as core features in Steam rely on an embedded version of Google Chrome, which no longer functions on older versions of Windows,” Valve said. “In addition, future versions of Steam will require Windows feature and security updates only present in Windows 10 and above.”
They continued: “Computers running these operating systems, when connected to the internet, are susceptible to new malware and other exploits which will not be patched. That malware can cause your PC, Steam and games to perform poorly or crash. That malware can also be used to steal the credentials for your Steam account or other services.”
It’s also worth noting that Steam will also no longer work on MacOS 10.13 or 10.14.
Are you one of the holdouts still using Windows 7 or 8? Will this finally get you to upgrade? Let us know down below.
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Valve needs its own OS in Linux