Steam will stop running on Windows 8.1 in 241 days

[FollyFaux]

So I'm a bit of a neurotic person and seeing this doesn't help all too much.

I'm in the process of having a panic attack and maybe even a breakdown and I just need to vent or at least gain a better understanding of what's going on..

I've been a steam user for almost a decade now, I have a couple hundred games and I'm not a technologically literate person unfortunately, I still see consoles as a cheaper alternative to pc gaming, much to my friends dismay.
Regardless of that, I'd have to say I mainly use my pc for gaming and I honestly cant imagine not being able to talk and play with the few friends I've made and had over these long years.

Does anyone know if there might be some kind of program people will develop or already have developed to keep steam working on windows 8.1?
Or perhaps it will only prevent me from making purchases but not from talking with friends at least?

If none of that is possible I would really like to know if there's anyway I can possibly get refunded or if my bank will may reimburse me for steam purchases, its just crazy to me to think that a game I purchased that was designed for my OS or a similar OS will now be unable to be played.
(I say unable to be played because I noticed that in offline mode, I'm unable to install games, so any games that aren't installed, I'll lose access to when support for 8.1 is lost.)

In the extreme case that nothing can be done, such as a work around to allow me to keep using steam on 8.1, some way to access games offline or just refunds/reimbursements in general, does Steam, located at Bellevue, 10400 NE 4th St. I assume, take visitors?

[N3tRunn3r]

No, Windows 7/8/8.1 will ge going to be dropped by Jan 1st, 2024. These are outdated OS'es in first case anyways. Imagine Windows95 users would had used W95 until year 2010, 15 years, just as old as Windows 7 is.

More clarification as well as the CEF debate can be found on anywhere in the Steam forums and here:
https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/11/3821910251181733896/?ctp=8#c3821910251188621658

[Runkel]

Originally posted by FollyFaux:

So I'm a bit of a neurotic person and seeing this doesn't help all too much.

I'm in the process of having a panic attack and maybe even a breakdown and I just need to vent or at least gain a better understanding of what's going on..

I've been a steam user for almost a decade now, I have a couple hundred games and I'm not a technologically literate person unfortunately, I still see consoles as a cheaper alternative to pc gaming, much to my friends dismay.
Regardless of that, I'd have to say I mainly use my pc for gaming and I honestly cant imagine not being able to talk and play with the few friends I've made and had over these long years.

Does anyone know if there might be some kind of program people will develop or already have developed to keep steam working on windows 8.1?
Or perhaps it will only prevent me from making purchases but not from talking with friends at least?

If none of that is possible I would really like to know if there's anyway I can possibly get refunded or if my bank will may reimburse me for steam purchases, its just crazy to me to think that a game I purchased that was designed for my OS or a similar OS will now be unable to be played.
(I say unable to be played because I noticed that in offline mode, I'm unable to install games, so any games that aren't installed, I'll lose access to when support for 8.1 is lost.)

In the extreme case that nothing can be done, such as a work around to allow me to keep using steam on 8.1, some way to access games offline or just refunds/reimbursements in general, does Steam, located at Bellevue, 10400 NE 4th St. I assume, take visitors?

I... i can't why not just update? And no, Valve will not refund your games. And why making a new topic there are plenty topics already.

[( ( < < <🤖> > > ) )]

windows 10 / 11 is just like installing and playing a game...

go watch some youtubes see what your in for..
and see if it will be as traumatic
as you are currently making things....

[FollyFaux]

Originally posted by N3tRunn3r:

No, Windows 7/8/8.1 will ge going to be dropped by Jan 1st, 2024. These are outdated OS'es in first case anyways. Imagine Windows95 users would had used W95 until year 2010, 15 years, just as old as Windows 7 is.

More clarification as well as the CEF debate can be found on anywhere in the Steam forums and here:
https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/11/3821910251181733896/?ctp=8#c3821910251188621658

CEF? I don't think I know what that stands for.
Anyways, one of my questions still remains, are there alternatives? specifically an OS that doesn't turn my pc into a giant phone with apps that corrupts all my programs?
Or perhaps something that can be downloaded to trick my OS into thinking it's win10, hence tricking steam into thinking it is too?

[Bee🐝]

Originally posted by FollyFaux:

Originally posted by N3tRunn3r:

No, Windows 7/8/8.1 will ge going to be dropped by Jan 1st, 2024. These are outdated OS'es in first case anyways. Imagine Windows95 users would had used W95 until year 2010, 15 years, just as old as Windows 7 is.

More clarification as well as the CEF debate can be found on anywhere in the Steam forums and here:
https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/11/3821910251181733896/?ctp=8#c3821910251188621658

CEF? I don't think I know what that stands for.
Anyways, one of my questions still remains, are there alternatives? specifically an OS that doesn't turn my pc into a giant phone with apps that corrupts all my programs?
Or perhaps something that can be downloaded to trick my OS into thinking it's win10, hence tricking steam into thinking it is too?

Try a Linux OS.

To find out more, try reading one of the 5843 threads already made on this topic.

[FollyFaux]

Originally posted by Runkel:

I... i can't why not just update? And no, Valve will not refund your games. And why making a new topic there are plenty topics already.

I wanted to have a discussion about certain things I'm curious about?
Also, I've tried upgrading to windows 10 a few times, each time it's corrupted many if not all of my programs, some of which I downloaded from websites no longer available.

Also I may be wrong the more I think about it but I'm pretty sure I didn't even have a search function in my taskbar, I couldn't even find my different hard drives to go through files.

Just felt like a lot of basic functions had been removed and was over all designed more like a phone/tablet with apps than a desktop..

[FollyFaux]

Originally posted by ragefifty50:

windows 10 / 11 is just like installing and playing a game...

go watch some youtubes see what your in for..
and see if it will be as traumatic
as you are currently making things....

I'm not saying it's a difficult install.
And I don't want to make repeat posts but I also don't want to just say, look at one of my other posts in this discussion, so here.

I've tried upgrading to windows 10 a few times, each time it's corrupted many if not all of my programs, some of which I downloaded from websites no longer available.

Also I may be wrong the more I think about it but I'm pretty sure I didn't even have a search function in my taskbar, I couldn't even find my different hard drives to go through files.

Just felt like a lot of basic functions had been removed and was over all designed more like a phone/tablet with apps than a desktop..

(While I'm sure a yt video will show me how to get the taskbar I want, the corrupted programs is a huge and unwanted issue for me.)

[BJWyler]

Your choices are upgrade to Windows 10. Get a Mac with OS 10.13, or use a Linux distro.

That Windows 10 corrupts programs that run on Windows 7 and 8 are a little suspect, as all three of these OSes are not all that different under the hood. Regardless, even if that were true, that is not Steam's issue to solve.

You not having a search bar on the task bar is also a little suspect as it is there by default in both a fresh install and an upgrade. I make use of it quite often. Cosmectically, Windows 10 has some differences from 7, but not to the point where you can't find what you are looking for quite quickly and easily.

[RasaNova]

Originally posted by FollyFaux:

Originally posted by N3tRunn3r:

No, Windows 7/8/8.1 will ge going to be dropped by Jan 1st, 2024. These are outdated OS'es in first case anyways. Imagine Windows95 users would had used W95 until year 2010, 15 years, just as old as Windows 7 is.

More clarification as well as the CEF debate can be found on anywhere in the Steam forums and here:
https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/11/3821910251181733896/?ctp=8#c3821910251188621658

CEF? I don't think I know what that stands for.
Anyways, one of my questions still remains, are there alternatives? specifically an OS that doesn't turn my pc into a giant phone with apps that corrupts all my programs?
Or perhaps something that can be downloaded to trick my OS into thinking it's win10, hence tricking steam into thinking it is too?

After reading your OP, I think the easiest alternative to losing access to Steam would be to just upgrade.

Originally posted by FollyFaux:

Originally posted by Runkel:

I... i can't why not just update? And no, Valve will not refund your games. And why making a new topic there are plenty topics already.

I wanted to have a discussion about certain things I'm curious about?
Also, I've tried upgrading to windows 10 a few times, each time it's corrupted many if not all of my programs, some of which I downloaded from websites no longer available.

Also I may be wrong the more I think about it but I'm pretty sure I didn't even have a search function in my taskbar, I couldn't even find my different hard drives to go through files.

Just felt like a lot of basic functions had been removed and was over all designed more like a phone/tablet with apps than a desktop..

I believe it was actually windows 8 which was the push towards phone/tablet interface, which I hated. Win10 dials a lot of that back, so if that's a concern you may actually like 10 better. And yeah it has search bar, file explorer, etc.

It's a free update, you meet the system requirements, the UI is (in many peoples opinion) better than windows 8, and it has the same functionality. And, it will let you use any platform based on the CEF framework in the future since most have already dropped windows 7/8 or will be soon. Steam, Epic Games, GoG Galaxy, Uplay, etc.

Or, try linux. But that's more of a switch and it seems that like me you're not as comfortable making that leap.

[andchaos]

Originally posted by N3tRunn3r:

No, Windows 7/8/8.1 will ge going to be dropped by Jan 1st, 2024. These are outdated OS'es in first case anyways. Imagine Windows95 users would had used W95 until year 2010, 15 years, just as old as Windows 7 is.

My Commodore 64 is 42 years old and runs fine, there was over 28 new game released for it in 2023 and we are not even half way trou it. so what with it that its old, it works fine and is fun to play on it :D

What buisines do you have in it to tell others to change their well working system? i would like to have the option open to run my steam games on my classic PC, its also good for you if you would setup a classic PC for games in future.

[FollyFaux]

Originally posted by Bee🐝:

Try a Linux OS.

To find out more, try reading one of the 5843 threads already made on this topic.

Linux?
To be honest I didn't think they still made those, I remember my grandmother had linux for her OS.

I'd probably get it right now if it happens to have that desktop look and feel, is it just called Linux? or do they have different models too?
Ah I'm sure I'll figure that part out, but if Linux works and doesn't make my pc desktop feel too much like some kind of tablet with apps, that's fantastic. I hope it manages handle my programs too.

Also yeah I wasn't sure about the other threads, some seemed either not to talk about what I was wondering about or were just very ehh, heated to say the least.
Perhaps I'm biased due to being an 8.1 user but it seemed like there was a great deal of animosity towards those not wanting to upgrade, something which seems to occur often in these related topics...
Besides it shouldn't be a problem really, I mean, only 2%ish of the steam population is making these threads, according to many comments on these topics, they should be fairly easy to ignore and forget about, perhaps even be buried under the more important topics the majority of steam users have.

Or is this issue that affects 2%ish of the steam population actually being brought up enough that the majority of steam users are being subjected to these constant threads?

Honestly I really should go check out more of these threads, I never stick around them long but still if the ratio between 7/8.1 users and amount of threads is making that much of a difference in discussions for the average up to date OS user, I'm curious to know what percentage of people support the support for older OS models and it its greater than the actual amount of said OS users.

Truly fascinating..

[( ( < < <🤖> > > ) )]

Originally posted by andchaos:

Originally posted by N3tRunn3r:

No, Windows 7/8/8.1 will ge going to be dropped by Jan 1st, 2024. These are outdated OS'es in first case anyways. Imagine Windows95 users would had used W95 until year 2010, 15 years, just as old as Windows 7 is.

My Commodore 64 is 42 years old and runs fine, there was over 28 new game released for it in 2023 and we are not even half way trou it. so what with it that its old, it works fine and is fun to play on it :D

What buisines do you have in it to tell others to change their well working system? i would like to have the option open to run my steam games on my classic PC, its also good for you if you would setup a classic PC for games in future.

buy a car... you dont have to change the balding tyres or drive in the rain.... do you..

there is lots of things we do in the world that require changes and replacements...
some changes we love and do without thinking... others we rebel against...

is anyone using a crt screen... or a 28k modem... 80mb hard drive...

you have a C64... why did you bother with a windows pc..... and what upgrades
have you made over the years... in your freedom purchases...

priorities we can all stop upgrading at any time... but with that... you lose things...

at this point you risk access to your games and if that is not a priority... stay on
the unsupported OS your on right now... but if your going to keep using a computer
for another 5 10 15 20 years....and you want to play games.... well...

you got things to think about...

[FollyFaux]

Originally posted by BJWyler:

Your choices are upgrade to Windows 10. Get a Mac with OS 10.13, or use a Linux distro.

That Windows 10 corrupts programs that run on Windows 7 and 8 are a little suspect, as all three of these OSes are not all that different under the hood. Regardless, even if that were true, that is not Steam's issue to solve.

You not having a search bar on the task bar is also a little suspect as it is there by default in both a fresh install and an upgrade. I make use of it quite often. Cosmectically, Windows 10 has some differences from 7, but not to the point where you can't find what you are looking for quite quickly and easily.

It's very possible that it was 8 that had the app-like features, probably explains why I'm on a modified version of 8.1
And 10 likely only gave me program troubles if this is the case, obviously it'll be in my best interests to try it out again, I'm hoping I wont have program issues like I had before but if I can at least use my search bar that might be a step in the right direction.

But yes, others have mentioned Linux, I'll also look into that.

[RasaNova]

Originally posted by andchaos:

Originally posted by N3tRunn3r:

No, Windows 7/8/8.1 will ge going to be dropped by Jan 1st, 2024. These are outdated OS'es in first case anyways. Imagine Windows95 users would had used W95 until year 2010, 15 years, just as old as Windows 7 is.

My Commodore 64 is 42 years old and runs fine, there was over 28 new game released for it in 2023 and we are not even half way trou it. so what with it that its old, it works fine and is fun to play on it :D

What buisines do you have in it to tell others to change their well working system? i would like to have the option open to run my steam games on my classic PC, its also good for you if you would setup a classic PC for games in future.

Can you get online with it, beyond BBS? Can you access gaming platforms? Browse the web? Access a digital marketplace?

It sounds like your Commodore 64 is basically a console. Which, to be fair is great. DRM-free games which you will always have access to, as long as your physical hardware & media holds up. I had an Atari 2600, from 1981. It was awesome with a large library of games and it worked fine when I finally gave it away a few years ago. But I do understand the need to upgrade a desktop PC over time.

[FollyFaux]

Originally posted by RasaNova:

I believe it was actually windows 8 which was the push towards phone/tablet interface, which I hated. Win10 dials a lot of that back, so if that's a concern you may actually like 10 better. And yeah it has search bar, file explorer, etc.

It's a free update, you meet the system requirements, the UI is (in many peoples opinion) better than windows 8, and it has the same functionality. And, it will let you use any platform based on the CEF framework in the future since most have already dropped windows 7/8 or will be soon. Steam, Epic Games, GoG Galaxy, Uplay, etc.

Or, try linux. But that's more of a switch and it seems that like me you're not as comfortable making that leap.

I'm seeing others have mentioned it was 8 that had the more app like features and yeah I'm starting to believe it was too, I remember when very quickly switched from 8 to 8.1 and even then I modified it, I must have associated that with my experiences with 10.
(The programs bugging out or corrupting.)

I will more than likely end up trying both, I mean it will really end up coming down to those couple of things I brought up, taskbar and programs.
Whichever one works better is my only option I suppose