Microsoft won't fully cease XP Support until April 2014

On April 8, 2014, all support for Windows XP, including security updates and hotfixes, will be terminated.[2] Users will still be able to download old updates and hotfixes from Windows Update. Microsoft recommends that users upgrade to Windows 7

I guess on that moment, The Steam Client will also cease supporting XP (Which means it won't be able to be installed on an XP machine)
The client is actually not supported on SP1 machines.

About the games, it's up to the publishers/developers to proper update them to work on upper OSs. Something will be left behind down the road. (Like happened with old DOS games, many years ago)

@Candy: That's not my problem. My problem is: What happens with my Steam games which only run on XP? If it weren't Steam games I simply could disconnect my XP computer from the internet and run it isolated as long as I want and play those old games as long as I want. Everything would be fine. But Steam games require an internet connection. I think Steam should at least put the connection requirement out of those games in a last update before XP support is discontinued. Or make them Win7 compatible ...

You can still connect to the internent with Windows XP after microsoft stops supporting it. Untill hardware chages so much that you need new hardware/driver to access the internet, you are fine.

You can also get Windows 7 Pro. It comes with an XP License so you can run it in a virtual machine and use a lot of your XP programs.

Also, Microsoft has a deal right now, untill Jan. 1st 2013, where you can buy Windows 8 from them for $40. You will probebly have some problems with XP games as well a a few Windoes 7 games, but it is cheap and XP can be upgraded to it too.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/buy?ocid=GA8_O_WOL_DIS_ShopHP_FPP_Light

@Spawn: Of course I can still connect. It will just be getting riskier as time goes by ...
Virtual machine: Would that work with Steam and Steam XP games? I guess - propably rather not, or would it?

Mine works fine when I run older games (non-steam) as well as some old school 16 bit games. I run Windows 7 64bit with a Windows XP 32bit in a virtual machine.

May want to act fast though. With Windows 8 released, MS will be phasing Windows 7 sales out soon.

Sorry, I misinterpreted what you ment by not being able to use the internet. :-P

what games are you worried wont work? Theres usually always a way to get a game to work.

As I've always noted 'not supported' do es not mean 'not working'

While yes there are a small handful of things that don't work on Vista/Win7/Win8 it's certainly not a huge problem at the moment. And won't be a problem for at least 13 years until we see how Win9 pans out in terms of kernel changes.

@Snark: Well, at the moment I'm worried about Avernum and X-Com 1 (the old X-Com). The latter is labeled "Win 2000/XP exclusively". Since I like the old ones best, more problem candidates may follow ...

"Win 2000/XP exclusively" means it won't work on 98, 95 or 3.11.

I ran diablo 1 on windows 7. There is a graphical glitch that is always there, even in compatability mode. Went away with the XP Virtual Machine.

Avernum and X-com should work fine on a newer OS.

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

"Win 2000/XP exclusively" means it won't work on 98, 95 or 3.11.

I ran diablo 1 on windows 7. There is a graphical glitch that is always there, even in compatability mode. Went away with the XP Virtual Machine.

And if youre talking about the color problem with diablo 1, here is a fix that should work. http://teamradftw.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=95:diablo-1-windows-vista-7-color-and-lan-issues-resolved&catid=43:announcements#Part1

I'm playing the original Xcom fine on Win7 64-bit.

Yeah, I don't have any games that I can't run in Windows 7, including oldies and including old school X-Com.

Originally posted by Satoru:

I'm playing the original Xcom fine on Win7 64-bit.

The 'Original'? Or the rebuild that runs on Dosbox? ;)
(Great game BTW)

Bad for me, as I rely on XP for a lot of my games. What do we do about the games that only run on XP (I think Microsoft has improved compatibility issues with Windows 7, but there are still a few games that will not run)...

I would like to run Windows 7 (64-bit), but 64-bit usually has some issues with games. I would like to improve my system RAM sometime. Running 32-bit Windows 7 right now, as well as 32-bit XP.

Originally posted by Raven23:

Bad for me, as I rely on XP for a lot of my games. What do we do about the games that only run on XP (I think Microsoft has improved compatibility issues with Windows 7, but there are still a few games that will not run)...

I would like to run Windows 7 (64-bit), but 64-bit usually has some issues with games. I would like to improve my system RAM sometime. Running 32-bit Windows 7 right now, as well as 32-bit XP.

What games do you have that wont work on windows 7 64 bit?