Steam just announced that it will stop supporting these old operating systems by the end of 2023 in a post on its community FAQ page. Further to Windows 7 and Windows 8, users of Windows 8.1 systems would be impacted by this update. Steam has set January 1, 2024 as the formal end-of-support date, which is nine months away. Following this date, users of Windows 7 or 8 will no longer be able to access the Steam client and all of the games and features that go along with it.
According to data from Steam's February 2023 Hardware and Software Survey, 64.68% of Steam users access the Steam client using Windows 10. Windows 11, the newest operating system from Microsoft, saw a market share increase from 24.22% in October 2022 to 33.27% in February 2023. Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users, on the other hand, make up, respectively, 0.36% and 0.10% of the total user base.
Nonetheless, even the relatively tiny fraction of users adds up to huge numbers if Steam just reached a record of more than 30 million concurrent users (October 2022). Mathematically speaking, this also implies that about 600,000 of the 30 million people could be using Windows 7 or 8 computers.
The release cites a number of factors that forced Steam to abandon certain operating systems. To begin with, the most recent iterations of the Steam Client's flawless operation and its newest features depended on an embedded Google Chrome browser. But, this variation of Google Chrome won't function on Windows 7 and 8 in the future. Also, Steam makes it clear that Windows 10 or Windows 11 operating systems must be used on the computer in order to receive security updates for next releases.
Many people were not surprised by Steam's decision to formally cease support for older operating systems considering that Microsoft no longer releases updates and software fixes for Windows 7 and 8.
According to data from Steam's February 2023 Hardware and Software Survey, 64.68% of Steam users access the Steam client using Windows 10. Windows 11, the newest operating system from Microsoft, saw a market share increase from 24.22% in October 2022 to 33.27% in February 2023. Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users, on the other hand, make up, respectively, 0.36% and 0.10% of the total user base.
Nonetheless, even the relatively tiny fraction of users adds up to huge numbers if Steam just reached a record of more than 30 million concurrent users (October 2022). Mathematically speaking, this also implies that about 600,000 of the 30 million people could be using Windows 7 or 8 computers.
The release cites a number of factors that forced Steam to abandon certain operating systems. To begin with, the most recent iterations of the Steam Client's flawless operation and its newest features depended on an embedded Google Chrome browser. But, this variation of Google Chrome won't function on Windows 7 and 8 in the future. Also, Steam makes it clear that Windows 10 or Windows 11 operating systems must be used on the computer in order to receive security updates for next releases.
Many people were not surprised by Steam's decision to formally cease support for older operating systems considering that Microsoft no longer releases updates and software fixes for Windows 7 and 8.
