Launched as a way for Valve to push updates to their games, Steam has grown to be the definitive digital storefront for PC games. Launched in 2003, the service has grown to support a multitude of platforms including Mac and Linux. However, the time has come for Steam to bid farewell to users still on Windows 7. Come January 1, 2024, Steam will no longer run on Windows 7, 8, and 8.1. The latest client patch adds a reminder for this, including the reason why.
Steam to cease running on Windows 7 and 8 from January 1, 2024
According to Valve, support for older OSs is being dropped due to embedded Chrome functionality:
“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. In addition, future versions of Steam will require Windows feature and security updates only present in Windows 10 and above.”
Certain Mac OS versions are being dropped too. Here are the complete patch notes:
General
- Added “End of Life” alert for Windows 7/8/8.1. Steam Client support for these operating systems will end on January 1st, 2024 at 10 am. See here for additional details.
- Fixed crash when clicking links in Compatibility Mode alert dialogs
- Reduced CPU usage of the Big Picture Mode window
macOS
- Added “End of Life” alert for macOS 10.11 (“El Capitan”) and 10.12 (“Sierra”). Support for these operating systems will end on September 1st, 2023 at 10 am.
- Fix Steam Overlay crash in some games using Metal graphics API
While 2024 is the hard cut-off for support, Valve urges users to update as soon as possible. Valve reiterates that support for Windows 7 was dropped by Microsoft over three years ago and is a security risk. To protect their data and Steam credentials, users are requested to upgrade at the earliest.
