When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Heres how it works.
Valve officially dropped Steam support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 this week.
Steam clients running on those operating systems will no longer receive updates of any kind.
Windows 7 has its fans, but the operating system hasn’t been supported for years.
Windows 7 stopped receiving technical support in January 2020, while support for Windows 8.1 ended in January 2023.
None of those operating systems are supported anymore, making them insecure in addition to being out of date.
PCs with those older operating systems have received warnings about end of support and prompts to update for years.
Windows 7 has its fans, but the operating system hasn’t been supported for years.
Microsoft went as far as toshow full-screen warningsabout the end of Windows 8.1 support in July 2022.
Windows 8.1officially reached the end of supporton January 10, 2023.
Performance can also worsen if your PC is the victim of an attack.
Windows 10 continues to be the most popular operating system among Steam users. It runs on over 55% of systems using Steam as of December 2023.
Valve emphasized these facts in its post about the end of support.
“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.”
Those who wish to stay on Windows 10 will also have the option topay to receive extended support.
