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Steam no longer supports Windows 7, 8, and 8.1
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this post was submitted on 02 Jan 2024
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It is ridiculous that Steam won't let you play your games you payed for outside of steam. Games that you've played for years on Windows 7 suddenly no longer play. Steam is like a DRM system that suddenly stops working and makes all the stuff you bought worthless.
I would rather Steam let me play all my games I legally purchased on Windows 7 outside of steam. If Steam is not going to work on Windows 7 than stay the hell out of the way and let me play the games I bought and have installed on my computer.
I hope somebody sues them for stealing their purchased games.
This isn't Steam's fault. The OS is dead because Microsoft killed it (as part of their ongoing planned-obsolescence operating system program). There is no conceivable way Steam can maintain security for anyone's account on an OS that hasn't received security updates for three years.
Nothing unusual about cutting the cord at some point when major updates introduce big enough differences that it becomes a pain to make sure things stay compatible. Same thing happen with any OS.
I swear some people around here must be mad that Microsoft doesn't release Windows 98 updates anymore...
Microsoft doesn't stop you from playing the games that already ran on your Windows 98 computer either. False equivelance.
Then don't buy your games on Steam if you don't like the way they do business, you've got other options, vote with your wallet and only buy DRM free games.
You still wouldn't be able to play those Windows 98 games if they were bought on Steam, because they've stopped supporting that OS ages ago and for good reasons. It doesn't support modern tech, it doesn't receive security updates, there's no point wasting money on supporting it, just like there's no point wasting money on supporting an OS that hasn't received a security update in close to a year and that less than 2% of users are using until they finally move on to the next version.
I wasn't expecting they would take away the games I legally purchased.
You're really okay with Steam being able to take away all the games you purchased whenever it feels like doing this? A rich asshole like Elon Musk could buy Steam and shut it down just to fuck with people, saying he just wanted the employees or some piece of tech. You wouldn't complain at all if that happened?
That's why I buy them on GOG and not Steam.
Look at the EULA, you're not buying the game, you're buying the right to play it and that right can be taken from you at any time, that's been the main criticism against the switch to digital platforms from the moment Steam started existing and if you had taken 30 seconds to think about it you would have realized it. Heck, just the fact that you can get banned from Steam and lose access to your library should have made that pretty fucking clear!
That's why I buy them on GOG and not Steam.Make up your fucking mind, do you or do you not buy games on Steam?
GOG didn't exist in 2003, Steam supported Windows 9x then and one day they stopped supporting it, so you probably have games on it that went from being playable to not being playable on W98 or XP or Vista. You never stopped to think about that when deciding to continue running an OS that reached its end of life?
WOW WTF??. That does it. I will definitely not give Steam another dime.
I bought many games that originally played on Win 98 you were talking about on GOG and play them on Win 10.
I stupidly bought Axis and Allies Online a week ago on Steam. Learned I cannot play it on Windows 7 after one week. Then learned I could have bought it on GOG instead without the ridiculous DRM.
So all your stupid posturing in this thread was just to bait people into an argument with you?
Nope. You are contributing nothing, so I'd rather you didn't argue.
Well, it only took me one comment to contribute nothing, you needed like two dozen comments for that
Actually I learned there is a Steam DRM emulator. I also learned that I definitely do not want to give Steam any more money because they reserve the right to steal your entire game library at any time. So this has been very productive for me.
Then they need to drop the DRM nonsense and let people use their desktop applications/games that they purchased.
It IS Steam's fault that Steam forces people to use a DRM system which they then shut down. Who else's fault would it be?
It's not Google's fault that Steam forces people to use a DRM system which they then shut down.
It's not Microsoft's fault that Steam forces people to use a DRM system which they then shut down.
It's not Windows 7/8 user's fault that Steam forces people to use a DRM system which they then shut down.
I can play GOG games without using GOG. The least that Steam can do is created a lightweight app that let's users play the games that they have already installed on their computer. Forget about "security" and "accounts". Just don't get in the way of users running their own games on their own computers.
You want Valve to develop a version of Steam that circumvents their own DRM to play local files? What would prevent people from using that to pirate things even more easily? I can imagine they'd have some trouble with publishers as well for doing that. There are already largely standardized cracks for steam and emulators for steam; just use that. Regardless, no solution will work for any game using DRM other than Steam, like Denuvo, so you'll have to rely on pirates for those regardless.
Are you running an OS that hasn't received a security update in a year (if you purchase the ESU packages)???
Dude, at least move on to Windows 10 or something, that's just you taking bad decisions at this point.
I like Windows 7 precisely because I still have complete control over my computer. Microsoft cannot brick my computer on a whim like they have the power to with later versions of windows.
I feel like this group of people are the kind that would already be on Linux though. If you're that anti Microsoft why be on any version of Windows when such a great suitable replacement that also still works on these older systems exists?
I have plenty of Linux machines and used Unix since before Linux existed. But when I want to play WINDOWS games and dont want to deal with wine hassles I need a windows box.
Wine hassles? It's not 2013 anymore. Proton sets up a prefix on first run and you don't think about it.
Linux gaming is good now.
"brick my computer on a whim"
Paranoid much?
It's funny that you fear Microsoft but not all the people that can exploit all the flaws that are now left open in your computer because you haven't received a single security update in 357 days (or more since the last three years were paid updates).
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/microsoft-update-system-has-destroyed-my-computer/15b6e4a5-9710-4b7b-a83e-5368bce11b15
[Microsoft update system has destroyed my computer completely]
Odds that these computers were infected by something in the first place?
Pretty fucking high.
I support multiple computers at all times that are always running the latest Windows version, never had one where an update broke it and if it happened it's a pretty major leap to go from "that update broke my computer" to "Microsoft intentionally bricked my computer"
It's also completely ridiculous because you're implying that the same situation couldn't have happened with a Windows 7 update.
Didn't say it was intentional. Why would it be intentional?
You can turn Windows 7 updates off. You can also control the timing of the updates.
Zero since they specifically noticed it happened during the update process.
Didn't say it was intentional?
Microsoft cannot brick my computer on a whim like they have the power to with later versions of windows.You can turn updates off for the following versions of Windows too.
Chances are they update broke because their computer was infected by something that didn't play well with the update, I don't know why you would think the odds are zero and don't know why you would think something similar couldn't happen with a Windows 7 update (not that you would care since you don't get updates anymore, but you might want to care about infection risks though, going on the internet for you is like joining an orgy and leaving your condoms at the door).
"On a whim" means they unintentionally throw out a sloppy updates that bricks some computers. Which I have given you evidence of.
Not permanently except for corporate versions.
Chances are much more likely the update broke their computer because their computer contained some software and/or drivers too obscure for Microsoft QA to care about.
The issue was still present with W7 if that's what you meant, the issue would be much more common if it was an hardware issue and it doesn't really matter in the end, you keep dodging the part where you can forgo updates for a while, but in the end the risk factor becomes so great that you must be an idiot to do so long term.
And need I remind you, if you're not a troll and you're truly still running W7, you haven't had any updates in at least a year... Which would explain you not realising that buying from Steam doesn't make you own the games...
Anyway, I'll stop entertaining you, have fun playing games on a sub par system that isn't compatible with the latest versions of direct x and that hardware manufacturers are starting to stop supporting! Oh no, that's right, you can't use Steam anymore sooooo... No more recent games for you, just a whole bunch of malware and keyloggers! 🙂
You are far from entertaining. I did have to reinstall my OS from scratch one time, but that was because of a hard drive failure, not a virus.
Linux?
You’re right with what you said except for Steam is not like DRM. Steam is DRM!
People will defend Valve with tooth and nails, but like every other digital system, one day it will fuck with their users (my guess is when Gabe Newell retires).
I can barely wait for that day, to see thousands of posts of users crying, because they never purchased anything, only rented! ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ
Plenty of people hated Steam when it first came out, it was a controversial thing when games started to require it.
Steam has only become as popular as it is because Valve responded to much of that criticism, and improved it enough to become “acceptable” DRM in the minds of most gamers. People defend it because it came to work (mostly) seamlessly and offer additional beneficial features. Unlike many other far jankier platforms/launchers which have been developed with minimum effort as more transparent cash grabs.
A DRM free world be be ideal, but we rarely get an ideal world, so people settle for the least worst instead.
It's a store and content downloader. Buy games that don't implement steamworks and you can copy the install folder to keep playing on windows 7 just fine without logging in.
Yeah I don't blame valve for Microsoft dropping security updates and neglecting the last good version of windows. I've switched to Linux where this will never happen.
It's a Chromium issue, not a Windows issue.
It's a DRM issue. Not a Chromium issue, or a Window's issue. What happens when Steam goes out of business after a corporate takeover and NOBODY WILL EVER BE ABLE TO PLAY ANY OF THEIR STEAM GAMES AGAIN.
You're talking about a different subject.
The reason why Steam is dropping support for W7/8 is a Chromium issue.
The reason why Steam will no longer allow me to play my purchased games on Windows 7 is a DRM issue which they could easily fix with a lightweight program.
Do you realize how ridiculous it is that playing a desktop game depends on a freaking web browser?? That is just unbelievably stupid.
No.
The reason is that Chromium doesn't support the OS anymore and Steam is Chromium based.
You purchased the right to install games from Steam knowing you need it to install and play the games, you knew full well that no Steam = no games, your accepted that DRM as long as it didn't get in your way. Looks like no matter how ridiculous you say it is now it didn't stop you from spending your money.
But that lack of logic shouldn't suprise me considering you're running an unsafe OS but you fear Microsoft and not all the hackers that now have access to your shit.
Actually I did not know that. It pisses me off that I bought Axis and Allies Online on Steam instead of GOG one week before it became unplayable on Steam on my Windows 7 system. I will ALWAYS check GOG from now on.
You agreed to a TOS. Not reading it was your fault. I'll admit that extremely long TOSes are kind of a dark pattern, but you did agree to them.
Very easy to run your previously purchased steam games without Steam. Search "Steam emulator", follow the GitHub or Codeberg link, and problem solved...
Won't help with games that use their own custom DRM though.
Thanks! I will try.