Valve Shows What DRM Does and What It Means to be Using Microsoft Windows
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer.
Valve Threatens Users on Windows 7 and 8: “Upgrade or Lose What You Already Have“
In another example of “forced upgrades by way of arson”, like Mozilla does to users hanging out on old versions of Windows that even sort of worked, Valve will be discontinuing support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 because it relies on an integrated Google Chrome (barf) browser.
Users have until January to get away from these operating systems before what they’re already doing stops working, taking out all their games.
They should move to Linux, which is free, or a Steam Deck which also runs Linux (and KDE) and bring their Steam library over that way.
Eventually, Firefox 115 ESR will be out of support and then the browser will degrade and pile up unpatched security holes.
There’s no telling how long an existing computer from the Windows 7/8 era will run Linux, but it beats these Windows “upgrades by arson”, which often need a brand new PC just to run Windows, and which are probably only somewhat better (and less frequent) than Apple not being able to decide which processors they’ll use or APIs that will be supported. 🙂 █
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.
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.
Although support won’t end until 2024, we strongly encourage all Windows 7/8/8.1 users to update sooner rather than later. Microsoft ended security updates and technical support for Windows 7 in January 2020 and for Windows 8.1 in January 2023. Computers running these operating systems, when connected to the internet, are susceptible to new malware and other exploits which will not be patched. That malware can cause your PC, Steam and games to perform poorly or crash. That malware can also be used to steal the credentials for your Steam account or other services.
-Valve