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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[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

Y'all didn't buy those games

[Mononymous]

You only rented them for an unspecified period.

Ssad

[stormdrainer]

I wish Apple upgraded 27 inch iMac.

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