ALERT Windows 7 Users!

[user1000]

In about 4 months, steam is no longer going to support Windows 7 users come January 2004. I don't know exactly if you can still play through the UI or how it will effect the play-ability of your games. I know there are still many users here with that system. Expect the worst. Many users extremely angry.

 

Read the BS here

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

Edited September 11, 2023 by user1000

[Grey_Fox]

Why are you still using a 14 year-old OS?

[Artkin]

Windows 10 is garbage, I don't blame him.

[Grey_Fox]

Just now, Artkin said:

Windows 10 is garbage, I don't blame him.

Having used it for the last several years, it's pretty darn good.

What does windows 7 do that windows 10 doesn't?

[Artkin]

To start they completely rearranged the entire OS and made it child-like. The search function is nearly useless.. etc etc. 

[Redwolf]

This is bad.

Any Steam games that doesn't run on newer Windows than 7 will be instantly and permanently disabled.

[Artkin]

1 hour ago, Redwolf said:

This is bad.

Any Steam games that doesn't run on newer Windows than 7 will be instantly and permanently disabled.

Seriously. All this over their overlay which doesnt function properly and crashes very often. Steam and Windows are both crapware. 

[Behemoth]

For those of us who prefer to retain ownership of the property we buy on steam or elsewhere; how do you retain titles that they no longer support? I'm sure by now someone has figured our the ownership rights stuff. I know digital content is in some cases "leased" and not bought and can be revoked at the will of the lessor, but how does this apply to software, books, music? When a service no longer exists does the property go open use after that? I understand this is in serious "weeds" territory but it came up and I have always wanted to know... thanks in advance.

 

-B

[Redwolf]

40 minutes ago, Behemoth said:

For those of us who prefer to retain ownership of the property we buy on steam or elsewhere; how do you retain titles that they no longer support? I'm sure by now someone has figured our the ownership rights stuff. I know digital content is in some cases "leased" and not bought and can be revoked at the will of the lessor, but how does this apply to software, books, music? When a service no longer exists does the property go open use after that? I understand this is in serious "weeds" territory but it came up and I have always wanted to know... thanks in advance.

 

That is all unexplored space.

The first thing I would try to do is re-buy the game on GoG. Luckily the old games tend to be very cheap, so at least the financial loss isn't great.

[A Canadian Cat]

22 minutes ago, Redwolf said:

That is all unexplored space.

Not really. Steam has their terms of service that we all signed up to and they can revoke your ability to play the games you lease whenever they need to change what OSes they support. It's very well established space. Extremely frustrating but it is a done deal now.

 

24 minutes ago, Redwolf said:

The first thing I would try to do is re-buy the game on GoG.

This is what we all have to do - buy from other sources that have better terms. Sadly this is like a handful of us screaming against a hurricane for all the good it does us. There are just too few people who care about this issue.

[Thewood1]

https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5201/~/support-plan-for-windows-7-and-windows-8%2F8.1

The sun is setting on Win7.  AMD is heading the same way.  Large corps are all on the move of wiping out old Win7-based systems for security reasons.  That'll be the true death knell.  MS only maintained limited support for Win7 because of corporate buying. 

So bite the bullet now or move to Linux.  I have been on Win10/11 for years and have no issues.  Upgrade was easy and painless from 7 to 8.1 to 10 to 11.

[Behemoth]

16 minutes ago, IanL said:

Not really. Steam has their terms of service that we all signed up to and they can revoke your ability to play the games you lease whenever they need to change what OSes they support. It's very well established space. Extremely frustrating but it is a done deal now.

 

This is what we all have to do - buy from other sources that have better terms. Sadly this is like a handful of us screaming against a hurricane for all the good it does us. There are just too few people who care about this issue.

IanL,

For sure these are the times we are in, we lost control of our consumer voice so quickly in the digital age that even those troglodytes like myself were left unaware. I hope we as a digital world of consumers start getting some of our ownership rights back. I will not be happy in a renters society, especially in regards to my books, music, software, and lastly games. If you have a club for those who care, I'll join!

 

-B

[Jace11]

On 9/11/2023 at 1:55 PM, Grey_Fox said:

Why are you still using a 14 year-old OS?

Isn't this your opinion of their latest OS from only a few days ago?

[A Canadian Cat]

6 minutes ago, Behemoth said:

I will not be happy in a renters society, especially in regards to my books, music, software, and lastly games. If you have a club for those who care, I'll join!

Agreed. Perhaps a club is what we need. When Adobe switched to rent only and many complained, including myself, Adobe ignored us and other users bitched at us even though all we wanted was to be able to own. We never said they could not rent if they wanted to. It keeps happening over and over. Sigh.

[Redwolf]

Another solution is to run old games under various forms of Linux emulation. Some of those forms are actually better at running difficult games for old Windows versions than Windows 10 is.

Problem of course is that this is semi-advanced Linux use.

[Artkin]

Lol I hate microsoft and valve. Security issues with windows 7? My ***.

[Thewood1]

One of my clients is a large manufacturer.  A number of its factory systems are legacy Win7-based.  Win7 makes up 8% of its total PC inventory.  But Win7 makes up 40% of its security incidents.  They had a recent ransomeware attack that started on a Win7 system that couldn't get a security update that all Win11 machines got.  They are now finally replacing all of those systems.  Corporations react to risk and cost.  Its driving the final death of corporate Win7.

As more games move to DX11 and DX 12, Win7 will get left further and further behind.  CM and older games might be the last games to support DX9.  Even Steel Beasts is planning on updating to DX11+.

[Grey_Fox]

1 hour ago, Jace11 said:

Isn't this your opinion of their latest OS from only a few days ago?

Windows 11 is a brand spanking new OS, so hasn't had the bugs ironed out yet. Given another year or so to mature and I'm sure it'll be fine.

That's different to relying on a 14 year old OS which has been abandoned by the people that created it. Windows 10 on the other hand is actively supported.

Also, that guy wanted to play the game today, and not to wait an indefinite period of time for a bugfix to be released.

Edited September 12, 2023 by Grey_Fox

[Artkin]

But a corporation is definitely not in the same class as consumers who are able to 1. prepare their computer before an attack happens (As anyone should) and 2. fix their computers when something happens without any corporate hoo-hah interfering.

Besides theres little to no gain in attacking personal computers. A corporation is different, ransomware is definitely a tool people use against businesses who cant afford to cease operations for a period of time. 

What I dont understand is why steam cant use a legacy version of their system. You know, the version that actually worked and wasnt designed for 10 year olds. 

[Grey_Fox]

5 minutes ago, Artkin said:

But a corporation is definitely not in the same class as consumers who are able to 1. prepare their computer before an attack happens (As anyone should) and 2. fix their computers when something happens without any corporate hoo-hah interfering.

Besides theres little to no gain in attacking personal computers. A corporation is different, ransomware is definitely a tool people use against businesses who cant afford to cease operations for a period of time. 

What I dont understand is why steam cant use a legacy version of their system. You know, the version that actually worked and wasnt designed for 10 year olds. 

I'm betting that corporations with IT departments (which isn't all companies bear in mind) would generally be better to weather an IT incident than a lot of consumers. I know individuals who have been ransomwared, and it was just easier to cough the money up than to deal with it. And tbf, the ransomware people were very professional and by all accounts gave excellent customer support when it came to retrieving the data.

Edited September 12, 2023 by Grey_Fox

[Artkin]

Sure if youre a helpless novice. And even if you are, there are websites dedicated to extensive free support like bleepingcomputer. 

Anyway that's user caused. 

[Thewood1]

There are security issues that Win7 just isn't prepared for.  Especially CPU level.  And consumers are the absolute biggest problem in cybersecurity.  Most big malware and ransomware attacks are done from consumer PCs that the owner doesn't even know are compromised.  Win7 absolutely cannot begin to know how to protect itself from those chip-level attacks.  That has to be done  at the chip level in conjunction with the OS.  No third-party AV software or self-help site will fix that.  Cyber-criminals drool over unprotected thermostats and Win7 PCs still connected to the internet.

Thats not even talking about GPU driver support completely going away and the lack of Win7 support for DX11 and DX12.

[user1000]

On 9/12/2023 at 9:42 PM, Thewood1 said:

There are security issues that Win7 just isn't prepared for.  Especially CPU level.  And consumers are the absolute biggest problem in cybersecurity.  Most big malware and ransomware attacks are done from consumer PCs that the owner doesn't even know are compromised.  Win7 absolutely cannot begin to know how to protect itself from those chip-level attacks.  That has to be done  at the chip level in conjunction with the OS.  No third-party AV software or self-help site will fix that.  Cyber-criminals drool over unprotected thermostats and Win7 PCs still connected to the internet.

Thats not even talking about GPU driver support completely going away and the lack of Win7 support for DX11 and DX12.

Don't forget strong anti-viruses / network protections are available for Win7 still, so playing older games is still good. There are ways to play without the UI anyways. multiplayer can be risky possibly, but people who still use Vista and even XP for older single player games and programs have managed with no problems.

Edited September 14, 2023 by user1000

[BornGinger]

On 9/11/2023 at 3:40 PM, Redwolf said:

Any Steam games that doesn't run on newer Windows than 7 will be instantly and permanently disabled.

This is a conspiracy. Call in the tin foil hatters so they can do something about it.

[Grey_Fox]

3 hours ago, user1000 said:

Don't forget strong anti-viruses / network protections are available for Win7 still

How can you suggest that when it's been abandoned by Microsoft, meaning it no longer gets security updates?