Steam dropping support for Windows 7 and 8 starting on 2024
Windows 7 and Windows 8 both met their dire ends on January 10th, 2023, with Microsoft ending support for both operating systems on that day, focusing entirely on Windows 10 and Windows 11 going forward. It was only expected that other kind of software and/or services would follow suit and also drop support for those operating systems.
Steam is also dropping support for Windows 7 and Windows 8 starting on January 1st, 2024. The Steam Client will stop running on those two Windows versions, encouraging their user base to update to a more recent version of Windows, Windows 10 or Windows 11. Steam cites that the main reason for the dropped support is for the reliance on an embedded version of Google Chrome, which also doesn't work on older versions of Windows, as well as relying on security updates which only exist starting in Windows 10.
Here's Steam's official statement from their website:
Windows 7 and Windows 8 Support
As of January 1 2024, Steam will officially stop supporting the Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 operating systems. After that date, the Steam Client will no longer run on those versions of Windows. In order to continue running Steam and any games or other products purchased through Steam, users will need to update to a more recent version of Windows.
The newest features in Steam rely on an embedded version of Google Chrome, which no longer functions on older versions of Windows. In addition, future versions of Steam will require Windows feature and security updates only present in Windows 10 and above.
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