Steam - Dropping XP and Vista Support

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Allkeyshop reports that Steam will drop Windows XP and Vista support come January 1, 2019.

Valve has just announced that its digital distribution platform, Steam, will be dropping support for Windows XP and Vista starting next year. This means that come January 1, 2019, the Steam client will no longer launch on the said operating systems.

[...]
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Okay, what does that mean for old Rockstar games still sold on steam that don't work (or barely do) on win7/10?
 
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I would guess either those people need to update their operating systems, or they'll be out of luck. I'm really not looking forward to updating to windows ten, but I suppose I'll have to at some point.
 
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I'm still running 7 as I was wary about compatibility issues. Guess I should upgrade at some point though...

Daniel.
 
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I am pretty sure all games on steam run on Win10., its part of what makes Steam so nice. I even have a Linux machine that will run a bunch of games. In Linux, if its not supported, Steam doesn't even allow you to install it. I could stream it from my windows machine to my Linux machine though. I definitely recommend updating to Win10. Lots of security holes in Win7.
 
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Quite a few old games don't run on Windows 10.
But who cares, honestly? Steam cannot keep supporting ancient software forever, it was a sign of goodwill (or laziness?) that they did it as long as they did.

They should make sure that you cannot accidentally buy such games without a confirmation that you understand it likely won't work on your current platform.

And if you really want to play those oldies, there are usually workarounds, hacks, dll-replacements, etc.
Or just switch to linux as I did as that has a better Windows emulation than Microsoft ever had using Wine (yes, I know, technically it isn't emulation, but from a user perspective it behaves just like that so... ;) ).
Well, actually, I dual-boot as a few newer games that I'm interested in don't work natively nor via Wine on linux.
 
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Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
Still available for purchase, but requirements: Microsoft® Windows® 98/ME/2000/XP
And it really doesn't work on anything above XP out of the box
 
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Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
Still available for purchase, but requirements: Microsoft® Windows® 98/ME/2000/XP
And it really doesn't work on anything above XP out of the box

And its based on Valve's own engine
 
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Okay, what does that mean for old Rockstar games still sold on steam that don't work (or barely do) on win7/10?

Mean that those developers should get it working on an OS that's still being supported!
 
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I don't think RPGWatch has ever taken a poll of our preferred/current/multiple operating systems - would be informative.
 
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It runs well, I was playing yesterday on an older machine with W10. It just needs a sound fix for cutscenes, nothing else.

Yeah, it is possible to get it working but you shouldn't have to go through all these hoops. However, this is the state of steam. Neither the publisher or Valve care if your "rentals" works beyond their initial release window.
 
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There's a lot of people here refusing to go to win10 because they're paranoid that MS is spying on internet user 198934706 because they're SO DARN INTERESTING. And others will say it's because there's one little tiny obscure game or application that they refuse to let go of that doesn't work on Win10. It also allows them to complain about remastered games being cash grabs. I'm sure more will take offense to this and give their reasons. Just not usually very GOOD reasons.

What I can't comprehend is the many people who refused the FREE 10 upgrade. You're going to eventually have to do it down the road. Just upgrade to 10 then go back to 7 and you have a free OS for when you need it in the future.

If anyone still wants to upgrade to 10 for free btw, let me know. It can still be done.
 
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This one doesn't:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/12140/Max_Payne/

This one does but crashes every 10 minues as if the code was copied from FO3 release:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/12200/Bully_Scholarship_Edition/

A lot of these Im sure will need some extra addons to get them to run, but they will run. Eventually, you have to say goodbye to a game unless they release a new version of it. Get on the Win10 bandwagon. Its not the AI overlord people think it is.
 
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I have no issues here. Its kinda like complaining that you need to get a new Playstation console. No one ever complains about those, but Windows versions get torn apart with a fine tooth comb. It's yet another example how some things are just accepted and other analogous things are initially approached with dislike or hate and are then dissected wherein features inherent in other systems are treated as great betrayals.

No one lost their shit when games stopped supporting MS DOS, or Windows 3.1, or Win '95, or Win '98, or Win 2000 but we get to XP and a bunch of people built a permenant residence and no matter how much the ocean is reclaiming the land they've decided to settle on, they refuse to leave on sheer principle. It's not XP's wonderful suite of built in applications, or its user friendliness, or even how well is runs games… it's a refusal to be made to move. The weirdest form stubbornness has taken in years. There is nothing XP has that you can't get elsewhere, and if a game has issues playing in Win 10, you make Steam do the minimal work required for the near monopoly of the PC market they've built. If GOG can do it, in a distant 2nd place, so can Steam.

BTW, there is an option for each feature if you hate the Facebook-like information gathering MS built in. Of course, if you have a cell phone or any apple product or console, your cries against being spied on will seem bizarre.

Point is, if Steam is doing this then they have an obligation to make every title work on newer O'Ss by default. And if they don't, it should become a widely discussed abuse of its customers, but, in all honesty, it is time for XP to be buried. Along with whatever cordless phone sized cell phones you might still be using.
 
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Yeah, it is possible to get it working but you shouldn't have to go through all these hoops. However, this is the state of steam. Neither the publisher or Valve care if your "rentals" works beyond their initial release window.

If "initial release window" means 10+ years, I want the # of the blockbuster you get your "rentals" at.
 
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I don’t have a problem at all with this. Hell, I dropped both OS’s as soon as windows 7 was released and I dropped 7 when 8 was released and dropped 8 when 10 was released.

What I do have a problem with is still selling games that don’t work on OS’s you support. It gives pc gaming a bad name. There’s already enough chance for conflicts with all the different hardware they don’t need to compound that by selling games that won’t run on modern OS’s.

Now seasoned pc gamers know to steer clear of steam and go to gog for your old game fix. Unfortunately though not everyone knows that.
 
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
Still available for purchase, but requirements: Microsoft® Windows® 98/ME/2000/XP
And it really doesn't work on anything above XP out of the box

VtM-B runs fine on Windows 10 with no tweaking whatsoever. I was just playing it a few weeks ago.

I think they forget to update the listed requirements for some games. That doesn't mean they won't run on Windows 10.
 
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A lot of these Im sure will need some extra addons to get them to run, but they will run. Eventually, you have to say goodbye to a game unless they release a new version of it. Get on the Win10 bandwagon. Its not the AI overlord people think it is.

No offense, but I don't think you and some others here are getting the point. It being twofold. For one, there is the general assumption (certainly supported) that Valve guarantees you will always have a way to access to a game you bought. If it becomes impossible to run Steam on the only OSes a game supports, this compact is broken.
Furthermore, some games that have only been released on Steam and are not being supported anymore (because either the rights owner doesn't care or cannot be determined anymore do to some copyright mess-up) could be lost altogether. No matter what platform you run or what mods you use. You may not think that a loss but a lot of people may disagree.
 
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