Steam Cuts the Cord For Legacy Windows, macOS

The latest Steam client drops support for operating systems older than Windows 10 or macOS 10.15 Catalina. "That means Mac users can't run 32-bit games anymore, as all macOS versions from Catalina onward only run 64-bit binaries," reports The Register. From the report: [I]f you have a well-specified older Mac, here is another reason to check out Open Core Legacy Patcher. For now, macOS 10.15 Catalina will do but we suspect it won't for long. This version of Steam uses the equivalent to Chrome 126: "Updated embedded Chromium build in Steam to 126.0.6478.183." However, versions since Chrome 128 require macOS 11 or newer. For now, Catalina will work -- but the next significant Steam update will update Chromium as well, and there's a high probability that that will drop support for 10.15.

So, if you're using OCLP to install a newer macOS, you should probably go directly to Big Sur. In The Reg FOSS desk's testing, we found that Big Sur ran reasonably well on a machine with Intel HD 520 graphics, although the same hardware ran very poorly with macOS 12 Monterey. Unfortunately, the inevitable end is in sight for older Macs. That said, the November 2024 Steam client update brings several "wins," including a built-in Game Recording feature, an upgraded Chromium browser engine, and the new "Scout" Linux runtime environment for improved compatibility and performance, especially on the Steam Deck and Linux distros. Additionally, it delivers bug fixes and enhancements for modern OS users.

At least it lasted this long

[Pentium100]

That sucks. While I can run a lot of the games on Linux, some of them, like Derail Valley last time I tried have much worse performance compared to Windows 8.1. The games runs fine on Windows 8.1 and is unplayable on Linux.

I guess I won't be playing games on my laptop anymore. Well, I will still be able to play them, just that I will have to get them from somewhere else, not Steam.

They should have just not forced the client update and kept the old client version as long as the API did not change. OTOH, at l

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[luther349]

you can use old versions but you ned to download the games on a newer pc.

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[Pentium100]

Thanks, I'll try that. I guess if the game does not have a native Linux version, then Steam on Linux will download the Windows version that I'll be able to use on Windows 7 or 8. That would be nice.

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[luther349]

yea you can even tell it to use the Windows version by force comptabilty and proton.

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[Anonymous Cward]

You can use steamcmd to download games on legacy platforms (and for legacy platforms) it's intended for tools/software but supports games too. You can also use it to get older versions of games, so if developers drop support for old platforms during updates, you're not left out in the cold.

That said, if you're rocking legacy hardware, it may be worth considering using Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021 instead. Just set your location to Ireland, disable VBS and it will remain crap-free until it goes EOL

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[Pentium100]

My hardware is somewhat recent, but I just dislike Windows 10 and 11. While 7 and 8 may get hacked and I may get adware or spyware, Windows 10 and especially 11 comes with adware/spyware pre-installed. At one time I tried to use Windows 10, spent some time decrapifying it and then disabled updates since updates tend to turn the crap back on.

I'll just figure out how to use steamcmd then. I have older PCs for older games, but the games I play on them are not from Steam, so I do not have problems with them.

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[sinkskinkshrieks]

Probably not going to work because of "DRM" that requires Steam client sign-in.

Thank you Valve

[JThundley]

Thank you Valve for making Steam on Linux as good as it is. It's your steadfast support that allowed me to fully migrate from Windows 7 to Linux and kick the dirty MS habit for good!

Now please, please just put in that same effort for VR! My Vive is gathering dust...

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[fjo3]

Thank you Valve for making Steam on Linux as good as it is. It's your steadfast support that allowed me to fully migrate from Windows 7 to Linux and kick the dirty MS habit for good!

Now please, please just put in that same effort for VR! My Vive is gathering dust...

What distribution are you using? I can't bring myself to upgrade from Winblows 10 --> 11

Re: Thank you Valve

[EldoranDark]

Mint was great experience and very familiar feel, but I'm not currently using it because X graphic backbone is causing frame stutter in games when using multiple monitors. If you're not - perfect. If you are, look for a distro using Wayland. Ubuntu does that, hit I can't stand ui. Currently using Fedora Xfce flavour.

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[JThundley]

I was using Kubuntu before, now I'm using Endeavour. I like both :)

Y'all didn't buy those games

[Mononymous]

You only rented them for an unspecified period.

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[Anonymous Coward]

you know - 'Y'all" isn't a word, right?

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[thegarbz]

I'm okay with this. Games are entertainment. I get no value in owning them, I only get value in playing them, and I can play literally anything to get that value. Oh no Baldur's Gate isn't launching! What will I do! *proceeds to move on to play something else instead*.

That said your comment is incredibly short sighted. Valve have gone out of their way to keep purchased content available. You can play your games offline without internet. You can play games that have been withdrawn from sale (and even downloa

Ssad

[stormdrainer]

I wish Apple upgraded 27 inch iMac.

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[NoMoreACs]

I wish Apple upgraded 27 inch iMac.

Not practical.

Would have to make it a 32 inch, like the Studio Display; but then you end up with a base price of likely around $2,500; for a fairly basic computer.

The thing to do at this point is pair the new M4 Mac mini with the Monitor(s) of your choice.

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[bsdetector101]

I had been wishing too, BUT it's not going to happen. Like comment below suggests get new M4 Mac mini and non-Apple monitor. Or what I may do is use my current 2017 27" iMac with Luna Display using usb-C cord to connect to M4 Mac mini, doesn't the lag like wifi method.

Buyer Beware

[useroftheinterwebs]

GOG.com ... get the word out to younger generations on why this is the better choice.

If DRM mostly hurts those who follow the law, then buy from GOG instead of Steam. Then you can stay legal without so many restrictions that are "for everyone's good". Eventually Steam will become like GOG if enough people do this, because Valve (and what game developers survive) will want to continue to make money. That way you can save a DRM free installer, and not have to worry as much about Valve's control of what OS you

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[thegarbz]

If DRM mostly hurts those who follow the law, then buy from GOG instead of Steam.

DRM takes a back seat to someone wanting to play what they want to play. DRM also takes a back seat to convenience which is why many people buy things on Steam even when a DRM free alternative is available.

The reality is users need to feel pain to be impacted by something, otherwise all your post is is useless words. Telling users about DRM is like trying to scare them to go to bed by talking about the bogeyman. They will only start to care about DRM when they actually experience something they can't do as

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[useroftheinterwebs]

It has to start somewhere. Animals don't learn through first hand experience alone. And if you quizzed a lot of youngsters on the points I mentioned, you would likely find that a lot of them are clueless.

If you have children, require them to verbally demonstrate that they understand the relevant concepts before you allow them to buy a game. Yes, it will be the bogeyman and they will blow it off when they want to play a subscription based game with their friends. But eventually when they play a single player

Steam: Participation in destruction is mandatory.

[Flamecation21]

What will we do the next time this happens? When Windows 10 and 11 is declared to be "legacy" or other kind terms for "I want to sell you a new one, so I made the old one obsolete." This enforced lack of program ability is unnecessary and wholly constructed to push newer, less stable, larger and buggy OS's which in turn require newer computers to be bought. Y'know, just in case you _aren't_ buying a whole new computer setup every 12 months like a good corporate slave. Who said these guys could take things a

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[Spacejock]

I have 3 older PCs that can't officially run Win 11, but I do have Steam accounts on them. Recently I set them up to dual-boot Ubuntu, it runs the games I want to run just fine, but also runs some older XP-era games from my Steam account(s) which no longer work on Windows 10/11.

Re: Steam: Participation in destruction is mandato

[Carewolf]

They supported 32bit macs 5 years longer than Apple did and Windows 7. Three years longer than Microsoft. There are limits

Electron

[allo]

That's what you get for using electron.