Steam Won't Run on Windows 7 and 8 Anymore. Changes Also Affected Older macOS Versions
The latest version of the Steam client doesn't support Windows 7, 8, or 8.1. Users must upgrade to at least Windows 10 to continue using Valve's platform.
The new version of the Steam client released on November 5 no longer supports Windows 7, 8, and 8.1. Valve officially retired support for these operating systems on January 1, 2022. However, as noted in the technical support message, Steam and games installed within the Valve platform will continue to run on them for some time.
End of older versions of Windows on Steam
The complete end of support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 was only a matter of time, as Microsoft stopped supporting these operating systems in 2020 and 2023. In this situation, the most obvious solution is to switch to Windows 10 or 11, which is mainly recommended for security reasons. If a player is unable to do so for any cause, they should avoid updating Steam in order to keep using their game library.
Valve's decision could also have been dictated by the behavior of the players. The September survey showed that the popularity of older versions of Windows is still declining, while Windows 11 is gaining in popularity. Even Windows 10 has experienced losses, and the reason may be the upcoming end of support for this system by Microsoft. Recently, Windows 11 has had its problems related to the 24H2 update.
The new version of the Steam client doesn't work on the previously mentioned versions of Windows. Those using macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) and 10.14 (Mojave) will also be unable to run Valve's platform on their computers. They stopped receiving support on February 15, 2024, but could still use Steam until the beginning of November.
In the case of macOS, we can also mention Valve's observation of the activities of players using this system, as over 98% of them are using at least macOS 10.15 (Catalina). The update from November 5th will therefore affect a small percentage of players.
