The countdown banner is just a timer, it's not going to instantly switch off Steam when it hits 0. Incompatibility with Win7 will come from a client update, not the timer.

If it really annoys you, it's possible to remove that banner.

Originally posted by Laqzi:

Originally posted by Wiawyr:

The countdown banner is just a timer, it's not going to instantly switch off Steam when it hits 0. Incompatibility with Win7 will come from a client update, not the timer.

wait. so that means if i still have the cfg on steam folder it wont update to a newer version of steam that will brake when used on windows 7?

Yes, according to the timeline of Windows XP deprecation, the countdown was only cosmetic, the following update was what made Steam unusable.

You can easily remove the red abandonment banner by using this skin I created:
https://github.com/TiberiumFusion/Hide-Steam-Client-Abandonment-Nuissance

This is a V5 skin and works with:
- All Steam clients released between Oct 30 2019 and May 31 2023
- The June 2023 and July 2023 clients when the -vgui switch is specified
- The August 2023 client when using steam://restartinuimode/vgui

This skin will *not* work with...
- The September 21 2023 client or newer
- The June - August 2023 clients when using desktopui mode (-vgui *not* specified)
...because Valve axed the skinning system in desktopui (pure cef steam library mode).
For these clients, you will have to remove the red banner by editing whichever chunk of html or js creates it. I haven't looked at that so I can't tell where it is off the top of my head.

Lastly I will note that while it is unlikely there is a Jan 1 time bomb in recent releases of the Steam client, we cannot rule that possibility out altogether.

Originally posted by TiberiumFusion:

For these clients, you will have to remove the red banner by editing whichever chunk of html or js creates it. I haven't looked at that so I can't tell where it is off the top of my head.

Just wanted to revisit this post, it is possible to edit steamui/index.html to make it load custom CSS files (or even adding styles directly to it, if it is a priority to use as few files as possible).

Example HTML edit:

I am too lazy to deal with my slow-as-balls Windows 7 VM to test, but this CSS might work (named webkit.css, but Steam no longer loads CSS from skins so the name is unimportant):

In case the edit doesn't work, it may be worth trying Steam_EOLAlert? It seems to be a localisation string, though.

I might elaborate on it a bit more in the guide if someone successfully tests this.

^ That's by far the simplest solution, I'll be sure to add it to the guide. Thank you!

Though, I guess it would be a good idea to test with a system date many years in the future to check if Valve already decided when to discontinue Windows 10 and macOS 13.

A little offtopic, but does anyone know how to disable the normal account alert on start popup? I found how to hide the client slert button, but the popup stil shows up when starting steam.

Originally posted by lightwo:

Though, I guess it would be a good idea to test with a system date many years in the future to check if Valve already decided when to discontinue Windows 10 and macOS 13.

I re-investigated the switches in the Sept 2023 client. There are no dates attached to -pretendeol-w10 and -pretendeol-mac-13, but the framework for the abandonment messages is in place. Either Valve has not yet decided on an abandonment date for those systems, or they have selected one but haven't yet included that information in a retail release of the Steam client.

So, for all contemporary releases of the Steam client so far, using either of the mentioned switches effectively permanently disables the countdown banner, regardless of the time when it is used. This will change in the nearish future once Valve adds the missing dates to the retail client.

Originally posted by TiberiumFusion:

This will change in the nearish future once Valve adds the missing dates to the retail client.

Oh, I doubt that. If Windows 7 was supported by Steam for 15 or so years by now, and Windows 10 is only going to stop receiving support in about 2 years, there's no reason to deprecate Steam for that platform yet.

Originally posted by lightwo:

Originally posted by TiberiumFusion:

This will change in the nearish future once Valve adds the missing dates to the retail client.

Oh, I doubt that. If Windows 7 was supported by Steam for 15 or so years by now, and Windows 10 is only going to stop receiving support in about 2 years, there's no reason to deprecate Steam for that platform yet.

Read the trends and spend more time in the Windows world. Or work in the software industry. You are gravely mistaken about what "Windows 7" is versus what "Windows 10" is and how much the world has changed.

M$'s "official" support for 5.1 and 5.2 client skus ended in April 2014 (real support notwithstanding). Valve abandoned those platforms on Jan 1 2019, or five years later. Market share of those skus declined ultimately at the decision of end users. It remained profitable to support these skus for a while as users slowly changed platforms. Most (Steam) users purchased os services instead of os products.

M$'s "official" support for 6.1 and 6.3 client skus ended in Jan 2023 (real support notwithstanding). Valve will abandon those platforms in Jan 2024, or one year later (not five). Market share of those skus declined ultimately at the decision of end users. It remained profitable to support these skus for a little longer as users changed platforms, but by now most (Steam) users no longer purchase os products anymore.

M$'s "official" support for 10.0 retail client service skus ends in Oct 2025 (non-retail service skus notwithstanding). These are services, not products. Market share of these skus ultimately declines per M$'s decisions to shutter their services, not the end user's. Services cease to exist once they are shuttered, and the 10.0 retail client service skus ("Windows 10" and "Windows 11") are no different.

The consumer license for 10.0 retail client service skus stipulates that M$ reserves the right to cease offering this service at the end of the support term. This has been well known for the last 8 years. Like all giant software organizations that have created a permanent dependency for themselves on M$'s os services and extremely powerful consumer license, Valve is preparing for this contingency. They will not waste any further resources on a highly expensive os service if/when M$ ceases to offer it and 100 million Steam users on "Windows 10" now have zero operation system. Valve's goal is to make money, and there is absolutely no money to be made by selling their product on a service that no longer exists. If/when M$ eliminates service for the "Windows 10" service retail skus by Feb 2026, Valve will quickly follow suit. Observe the same pattern in all other large forces in the current Windows saas ecosystem.

This will not be 5-10 years from now. This is coming in 2 years, i.e. a time frame shorter than the majority of negotiated support contracts for enterprise software of this era at this scale. Aka the nearish future.

Accordingly, Steam users who are 10.0 client service customers (notably, "Windows 10" users) should also be preparing for this contingency.