Another blow for Windows 7 and 8 hold outs, Steam announces they’re ending support for these devices January 1st 2024

You might be thinking, why is Valley Techlogic a business IT service provider reporting on this? While it’s true, most of our content is aimed at our client base which is business owners, there is of course some overlap between that community and the gaming community. There is also the looming topic of what this signifies for those continuing to use outdated versions of Windows – business owners and gamers alike.

The latest news from Steam officially announcing they’re cutting off support Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 devices on January 1^st 2024. On that date the Steam client, which is how users access their games, will stop working on these devices. That’s because portions of the Steam client rely on a version of Chrome that has also ceased support for those versions of Windows as of February of this year.

While Steam users still using Windows 7/8/8.1 are a minority at less than 3% of the total client base, around 7% of the population is still using devices featuring these operating systems (which doesn’t sound like a lot but represents millions of people). For context, Windows ended support for 7 as of January 2020 and for 8 and 8.1 January 2023.

One of the obvious downsides which is connected to today’s news, beyond being unsupported by Microsoft themselves these operating systems will no longer be supported by the software platforms you use regularly, and they may cease functioning on those platforms altogether.

There is also consequences to remaining on these operating systems that can fall way beyond losing access to your favorite games, without Microsoft support these devices are subject to more severe and more frequent security threats than modern operating systems that are still being actively supported.

The WannaCry ransomware is one obvious example of ransomware that’s targeted these devices, infecting an estimate 16 million devices so far. The fix for this ransomware is restoring the device but that may be difficult on older machines still running Windows 7 and 8. You also run the risk of your device failing just because the components have reached their maximum lifespan.

We always recommend replacing older devices BEFORE they fail because recovering the data on them is never a guarantee (especially without expert help).

This especially includes servers, with support for Windows Server 2012 R2 ending October 10, 2023. Recovering the data from a server that has failed or been compromised can only be accomplished by experts – and the data recovery for servers is often lengthy and expensive.

If you’re not sure of the end of life dates for your Microsoft products are coming up, here’s a chart you can keep as a reference:

It can be difficult to know whether you should update your device to the latest operating system, or if it needs to be replaced altogether. Your devices may technically run Windows 10 but if you have an older hard drive, or the device is more than 8 years old it probably makes sense to replace it instead.

For businesses looking to replace older devices, we have partnered with both Dell and Lenovo and can help you navigate the process as well as give you access to the discounts and special offers available to us. Reach out today for a consultation.

Also stay tuned, next week we’ll dive into whether it’s worth upgrading or replacing your on premises server or if it makes sense to move your data to the cloud and bypass a hardware purchase altogether.

Looking for more to read? We suggest these other articles from our site.

This article was powered by Valley Techlogic, an IT service provider in Atwater, CA. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/valleytechlogic.