Steam Beta client (December 4th, 2025 build) has been unofficially backported to work on Windows 7 SP1 x64 and Windows 8.x x64, thanks to EAZY BLACK!⚠️ MUST FULLY UPDATE WINDOWS!Download for Windows 7: https://t.co/nG292FnaXjDownload for Windows 8.x: https://t.co/eklYmfR3sg pic.twitter.com/VVqcKyikz7 December 9, 2025
While Windows 7 has been a fantastic operating system, progress marches on. You’ll notice that Windows 7 gamers on Steam are now quite rare, with only 0.05% according to the latest hardware survey. This operating system is nearing the end of its journey, so there's not much anyone can do about it.
Meanwhile, Windows 11 , which has received much criticism, continues to gain popularity and now holds a 69.2% share. Since Microsoft recently ended support for Windows 10, many gamers are bitterly switching over to Windows 11. Currently, only 30.66% of Steam users still use Windows 10, which is a 2.17% decrease from last month. That's the last of the gamers who are still holding out on upgrading.
PC gaming boasts a wonderful community, full of passionate enthusiasts who keep Steam gaming alive for legacy Windows systems. As Steam continues to update its client regularly, it might only be a matter of time before we see fewer backports, or perhaps a day will come when Steam makes it impossible to backport anything at all. Many of these enthusiasts are balancing real lives, and their efforts to create these backports are truly acts of love.
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Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/pc-gaming/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/pc-gaming/latest-steam-client-beta-backport-keeps-windows-7-and-windows-8-gaming-pcs-on-life-support-unofficial-solution-gives-a-lifeline-to-legacy-users#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
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