How Is This Legal?!

[ShaftAlmighty]

So according to Steam, I won't have access to games in 26 days I PAD FOR unless i install another Windows?!

How the **** is this allowed?

[Seraphita]

Oh I dunno. Maybe because windows 7 is no longer officially supported by their own makers. MAYBE, just maybe it might be related to that. Maybe also that you should upgrade to a new OS made by the same makers who stopped supporting the older one. Just saying.

[DarkCrystalMethod]

If you have hardware that can run Win10 go for it. Worth the one time purchase of $105-ish for Pro or $70-ish for home. Meanwhile there's some wiggle room in Valve's wording. I guess they won't necessarily detect and instantly exit steam if you have Win7(like they did for previous discontinued Windows versions) but they're not going to make any effort to support you on an unsupported operating system.
If you don't have the hardware then any Linux distro should be just fine. There's just a little learning curve. Also Valve made their own Linux distro which you might want to try since thats free too.
In no way is Valve ripping games from your account, but you'd need a machine that can run Steam itself for downloading, patching and launching.

[Heraclius Caesar]

Originally posted by ShaftAlmighty:

So according to Steam, I won't have access to games in 26 days I PAD FOR unless i install another Windows?!

How the **** is this allowed?

Valve informed you in the user agreement you agreed to when you signed up for Steam that system requirements are subject to change. You agreed to that. We all did. That's how it's allowed. That's how it's legal.

Try to be a little more rational and mature, it's just an operating system it's really not that deep. You'll be alright.

[Chika Ogiue]

Originally posted by ShaftAlmighty:

So according to Steam, I won't have access to games in 26 days I PAD FOR unless i install another Windows?!

How the **** is this allowed?

The next time you buy something on Steam, actually read the terms connected to the box you ticked as part of the purchase process. You agreed to this clause.

[DarkCrystalMethod]

Steam main window
menu bar
Help>Steam Subscriber Agreement
2. LICENSES
the second and third paragraph.
Starts with "For reasons that include,..."

But feel free to read the whole article.
https://store.steampowered.com/subscriber_agreement/

[kitt]

Originally posted by Heraclius Caesar:

Originally posted by ShaftAlmighty:

So according to Steam, I won't have access to games in 26 days I PAD FOR unless i install another Windows?!

How the **** is this allowed?

Valve informed you in the user agreement you agreed to when you signed up for Steam that system requirements are subject to change. You agreed to that. We all did. That's how it's allowed. That's how it's legal.

Try to be a little more rational and mature, it's just an operating system it's really not that deep. You'll be alright.

here is a hint.. not everything companies say in their tos is lawful

[Seraphita]

Originally posted by kitt:

here is a hint.. not everything companies say in their tos is lawful

Then challenge them with the power of the law. Also, what is NOT lawful about giving up on a dead OS? I mean... It's no longer supported by its original makers, after all. Why should steam keep it around? Literally nobody can force them to change that. It's outdated.

[C²C^Guyver |NZB|]

Originally posted by kitt:

Originally posted by Heraclius Caesar:

Valve informed you in the user agreement you agreed to when you signed up for Steam that system requirements are subject to change. You agreed to that. We all did. That's how it's allowed. That's how it's legal.

Try to be a little more rational and mature, it's just an operating system it's really not that deep. You'll be alright.

here is a hint.. not everything companies say in their tos is lawful

Explain how, this is happened to four or five other operating systems and nothing happened?

Pretty soon all of these Windows 7 users that are gasping in shock as to what is happening are going to realize that they should have paid attention when this was happening to Windows XP and Windows Vista users in 2018 and 2019.

[sei]

Simple - Valve has lawyers who have ensured that it is in fact very legal. And that's a good thing. The alternative would be that Valve would have to support old platforms forever regardless of how much it costs them or how small the platform's dwindling user base is.

The thing you need to accept is that this is just one of the many problems you'll experience by running an old OS. Microsoft ended support for Win 7 almost 4 years ago; and Windows 8.1 almost a year ago. You're not getting any security updates anymore meaning you're now likely exposed to known vulnerabilities that will never get fixed. More and more games and other applications are going to drop support for your platform and some will simply break. With fewer other users, you're not likely to find solutions online to any problems you encounter. And all of these problems will only get worse with time. You really *really* should not be running OS that's no longer supported by its developers.

Updating to a newer version of Windows should be free (as long as you have a valid license for Win 7 or above, retail or OEM). If you don't like the lack of privacy or all the things that Microsoft forces on you in recent versions of Windows, switch to Linux. KDE and Cinnamon desktops are pretty close to windows, or Xfce is good if you like classic Windows look. As for OS itself, Manjaro and Fedora are good choices if you like frequent (bleeding-edge) updates, while Linux Mint and Pop! OS are good if you prefer well-tested long term releases.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by ShaftAlmighty:

So according to Steam, I won't have access to games in 26 days I PAD FOR unless i install another Windows?!

How the **** is this allowed?

No, you will still have access.

Valve will stop supporting Windows 7 on January 1st, 2024. The Client will still work, but if there are any issues or when it eventually stops working (after many more updates) Valve won't fix it.

They clarified the issue some time ago.

https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/4784-4F2B-1321-800A

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, existing Steam Client installations on these operating systems will no longer receive updates of any kind including security updates. Steam Support will be unable to offer users technical support for issues related to the old operating systems, and Steam will be unable to guarantee continued functionality of Steam on the unsupported operating system versions.

In order to ensure continued operation of Steam and any games or other products purchased through Steam, users should update to a more recent version of Windows. We expect the Steam client and games on these older operating systems to continue running for some time without updates after January 1st, 2024, but we are unable to guarantee continued functionality after that date.

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.

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.

[C²C^Guyver |NZB|]

Originally posted by sei:

Simple - Valve has lawyers who have ensured that it is in fact very legal. And that's a good thing. The alternative would be that Valve would have to support old platforms forever regardless of how much it costs them or how small the platform's dwindling user base is.

The thing you need to accept is that this is just one of the many problems you'll experience by running an old OS. Microsoft ended support for Win 7 almost 4 years ago; and Windows 8.1 almost a year ago. You're not getting any security updates anymore meaning you're now likely exposed to known vulnerabilities that will never get fixed. More and more games and other applications are going to drop support for your platform and some will simply break. With fewer other users, you're not likely to find solutions online to any problems you encounter. And all of these problems will only get worse with time. You really *really* should not be running OS that's no longer supported by its developers.

Updating to a newer version of Windows should be free (as long as you have a valid license for Win 7 or above, retail or OEM). If you don't like the lack of privacy or all the things that Microsoft forces on you in recent versions of Windows, switch to Linux. KDE and Cinnamon desktops are pretty close to windows, or Xfce is good if you like classic Windows look. As for OS itself, Manjaro and Fedora are good choices if you like frequent (bleeding-edge) updates, while Linux Mint and Pop! OS are good if you prefer well-tested long term releases.

Have you read the Steam Subscriber Agreement?

You agree to keep your system up to date in order to keep using Steam.

It hasn't changed in 20 years, either.

[sei]

Originally posted by kitt:

here is a hint.. not everything companies say in their tos is lawful

Good luck challenging this in court. This is a well established practice in the industry, and the alternative is going to be prohibitively costly and stall improvements as companies begin to deliberate whether adding any new feature or APIs will require them to support it in perpetuity. If you wish to change this precedent, make sure to hire an army of good lawyers because if you somehow manage to get any anywhere at all, it won't be just Valve on the other side.

[sei]

Originally posted by C²C^Guyver |NZB|:

Originally posted by sei:

Simple - Valve ...
... long term releases.

Have you read the Steam Subscriber Agreement?

You agree to keep your system up to date in order to keep using Steam.

It hasn't changed in 20 years, either.

What exactly did I say that you take issue with?

[Pheex]

This is one of those issues where you can really see both sides. On one hand of course it can't be expect that Steam will have endless support for all old OSes forever, I mean a lot of cars from decades years ago aren't road legal anymore either because of updated safety (and sometimes even environmental) standards.

On the other hand there are millions of people still chilling playing old games. If someone wants to play just CS 1.6 for three decades on an old machine, I think they should reasonably be able to as well. Steam can't be expected to waste endless hours on supporting old OSes and they should not waste time on security updates, but I think they should keep putting some effort for old OSes to at least run Steam as best to their ability regardless.

If Valve continues to sell and profit from old games that were developed for older era machines, they should reasonably support old hardware as well.

Not because they have to legally, but because it's ethical.

[Chika Ogiue]

Originally posted by kitt:

here is a hint.. not everything companies say in their tos is lawful

Then get a lawyer and contest it in a court of law. Until you do, and until the courts rule it illegal, the clause can and will be enforced and you agreed to it with every purchase you made on Steam.