Steam Ending Support for Older Windows Versions

Released on the 22nd of October 2009, one of Windows' most famous versions came to light — Windows 7. This preferred OS has stuck with gamers over many years (including one of our staff, who still uses it despite it nearly reaching its two-decade age) and it's been a loyal service for everyone who used it. Though, its age is starting to create issues with various software that many have deemed quintessential, and Steam follows suit in just a few weeks from now.

Steam will soon end its support for three different Windows versions — Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1. With 2023 nearing its conclusion, this means that officials support ends in just a few short weeks from the time of writing, as the official final date of support is the 1st of January 2024. From there onward, the Steam app may continue to function, but support is no longer guaranteed, and it'll not be long before an update releases that breaks use entirely.

Though many games still support Windows 7, a lot of applications have sunsetted their older Windows support over the years. This update comes after the release of Google Chrome 110, which was released at the start of this year on the 13th of January 2023, as Steam uses an embedded version of Google Chrome. The client will also use Windows features for security and updates that are only available on Windows 10 or above.

Official Windows support for Windows 7 ended back in January 2020, and Windows 8.1 ended in January 2023, which leaves no question as to why Steam will also follow suit shortly. Though you can expect for the client to still run despite the final support update, this does mean that technical support for old operating systems will no longer be provided. You should still be able to play your games and launch them (so long as they are Windows 7 compatible), but functionality for unsupported systems is no longer guaranteed.

Steam's sunsetting for Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 support will come into play on the 1st of January 2024.