Neowin News Feed for: Deprecation

Microsoft will begin blocking legacy TLS connections in Exchange Online soon

Usama Jawad — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 21:12:01 +0000

Outlook's backend is dropping outdated security protocols soon, and organizations still relying on them could face sudden disruptions unless they act fast. Read more...

Microsoft formally removes a command line tool from Windows 11 25H2, 24H2, 23H2, Windows 10

Sayan Sen — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 13:36:02 +0000

Microsoft has formally announced the death of a command-line tool on all versions of Windows 11, Windows 10, as well as Server. Read more...

Microsoft is retiring an Office utility this year

Usama Jawad — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 22:10:02 +0000

A little-known Office utility is quietly disappearing this year, and if you rely on certain workflows, this change could catch you off guard. Read more...

It's a shame that Microsoft deprecated Steps Recorder (PSR) in Windows

Usama Jawad — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 21:00:01 +0000

Microsoft killed PSR, but an upgraded, smarter Steps Recorder could've been the perfect troubleshooting tool in today's AI era. Read more...

Exchange Online EWS is dying, here is what IT admins can do to prepare

Usama Jawad — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 19:08:01 +0000

Microsoft has reminded IT admins that the "time is almost up" for Exchange Online EWS, and "scream tests" are on the way. Read more...

New Teams calendar becomes mandatory as Microsoft pulls "legacy" option

Paul Hill — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 07:54:01 +0000

Microsoft is removing the "legacy" calendar toggle in Teams, forcing a standardized experience that may leave some users facing useless clutter. Read more...

Microsoft is killing off an Edge feature, and users may lose their data

Usama Jawad — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 16:42:01 +0000

Microsoft has seemingly decided to kill off an Edge feature, but many users won't be happy to know that there is no proper alternative in place. Read more...

Microsoft killing a free Windows 11/10 Office desktop app to move entirely to web

Sayan Sen — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 08:48:01 +0000

Microsoft is killing a highly rated free Windows 10/11 Office desktop application very soon this year. The company has shared details. Read more...

Google is deprecating some Gmail features

Usama Jawad — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 17:34:01 +0000

Google is dropping support for two features that impact certain integration services related to Gmail. Read more...

Report: Microsoft quietly kills official way to activate Windows 11/10 without internet

Sayan Sen — Fri, 02 Jan 2026 13:34:01 +0000

There were a few ways to activate Windows 11/10 officially. However, Microsoft has now apparently killed one such way without prior notice. Read more...

Microsoft warns IT admins that Windows Server 2025 is the last edition to support WINS

Usama Jawad — Sat, 22 Nov 2025 12:58:01 +0000

Microsoft has announced the end of support timelines for a legacy component in Windows Server installations. Read more...

Microsoft axes popular free Windows 11/10 KMS activation hack that worked without internet

Sayan Sen — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 15:52:01 +0000

Microsoft has successfully managed to kill a popular free offline way to illegally activate Windows 11 and 10. Read more...

Microsoft apologizes, shares new details on default legacy Calendar removal in Teams

Sayan Sen — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 03:06:01 +0000

Microsoft has apologized regarding the default removal of the legacy Calendar from Teams. It has shared new details on the rollout schedule of the change. Read more...

Google Tables work tracking app is shutting down after five years

Aditya Tiwari — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 21:06:01 +0000

Google announced that the days of its work tracking app, Google Tables, are numbered. Affected users should migrate their data to other apps. Read more...

VBScript on Windows is on the way out, here is what to do with your legacy VBA projects

Usama Jawad — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 14:40:02 +0000

Microsoft has reminded customers about the ongoing deprecation of VBScript in Windows, explaining what to do with legacy VBA projects. Read more...

Microsoft shares Windows 11 24H2, Server 2025 new Registry key and Group Policies for NTLM

Sayan Sen — Sun, 07 Sep 2025 10:16:01 +0000

Microsoft has released details regarding a new Registry key and Group Policies for NTLM removal on Windows 11 24H2 and Server 2025. Read more...

Microsoft killing lightweight version of Outlook app as it will block installs soon

Sayan Sen — Sat, 06 Sep 2025 20:18:01 +0000

Microsoft has confirmed that it is killing the lightweight version of the Outlook app called Outlook Lite. New installations will be blocked. Read more...

Microsoft killing popular browser add-on extension on Edge, Chrome as you won't need it

Sayan Sen — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 06:48:01 +0000

Microsoft is killing another one of its free, popular and highly rated apps, this time in the form of browser extensions on Chrome and Edge. Read more...

Microsoft killing its free highly rated document scanner app soon this year

Sayan Sen — Fri, 08 Aug 2025 09:40:01 +0000

Microsoft has confirmed that it is retiring its free, popular and very highly rated document scanner app very soon. Read more...

GitHub customers rejoice as Command Palette deprecation is delayed

Usama Jawad — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 18:50:02 +0000

GitHub has decided to delay the deprecation of Command Palette after listening to user feedback on the topic. Read more...

Microsoft may disable VBScript early in Windows 11 24H2 25H2, shares detailed official guide

Sayan Sen — Sat, 17 May 2025 08:34:01 +0000

Microsoft has published a new blog post outlining in detail how organisations and companies can detect and remove VBScript. The feature may be disabled early. Read more...

A Windows, Mac Excel feature is being removed as it's too expensive for Microsoft to afford

Sayan Sen — Tue, 13 May 2025 13:02:01 +0000

Microsoft is killing a feature inside Excel for Windows, Mac, Android and more, citing that it's too expensive to afford development. Read more...

Microsoft is making Windows 11 23H2, 22H2 less secure than 24H2 by killing a VBS feature

Sayan Sen — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 07:00:01 +0000

Microsoft is killing a VBS-related feature on older versions of Windows 11 as well as Server, and that could make them less secure than 24H2 and Server 2025. Read more...

Microsoft is killing something inside Edge but it's to improve user data privacy

Sayan Sen — Fri, 04 Apr 2025 05:52:01 +0000

Microsoft is improving user data privacy in Edge by moving on from the way it collects user-related browser and device data. Read more...

Intel is killing an awesome free Windows 11 app that connects PCs with phones

Sayan Sen — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 08:42:02 +0000

Did you get to try Intel Unison on Windows 11? If not, you may want to do it soon, as the application will be dead in a few months. Read more...

Microsoft wants you to understand why "deprecation" of Windows features is good for you

Sayan Sen — Sat, 01 Feb 2025 08:12:01 +0000

Microsoft explains in detail why Windows 11/10 feature "deprecation" is a good thing for users. Read more...

Linux removing an outdated, insecure Microsoft USB network protocol that's still on Windows

Sayan Sen — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 22:16:02 +0000

The Linux foundation seems ready to finally axe a Microsoft-made remote network protocol for USB that is still a part of modern Windows operating systems. Read more...

The Microsoft Tips app has been deprecated and will be removed from a future Windows release

John Callaham — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 00:00:01 +0000

Microsoft has quietly revealed it has decided to deprecate the Microsoft Tips app. It will be removed in a future update of the OS. The app's content will continue to be updated until it is removed. Read more...

Microsoft reminds you'll no longer have TLS 1.0, 1.1 in Windows 12 and the next Windows 11

Sayan Sen — Sat, 02 Sep 2023 17:32:01 +0000

Microsoft will be disabling TLS versions 1.0 and 1.1 on Windows very soon. The company announced it earlier today and is part of its broader strategy to make the next Windows versions more secure. Read more...

Microsoft is getting rid of the Remote Mailslot legacy protocol in Windows 11 soon

Usama Jawad — Fri, 10 Mar 2023 06:40:01 +0000

Microsoft has disabled the Remote Mailslot legacy protocol by default in Windows 11 build 25314. A senior Microsoft manager has called it "disgusting" and "crap", saying that it will be removed soon. Read more...

Microsoft gives final warning about Basic Auth deprecation in Exchange Online

Usama Jawad — Wed, 21 Dec 2022 07:16:01 +0000

Microsoft has issued what appears to be the final public warning about Basic Authentication in Exchange Online being deprecated next month. Customers have been advised to switch to Modern Auth. Read more...

Google Chrome 108 is coming today with lots of deprecations and improved COLRv1 support

Usama Jawad — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 09:46:01 +0000

Google Chrome is landing in the later hours of today. It has a pretty lengthy changelog with lots of deprecations, a bunch of new APIs, and an improved implementation of the COLRv1 vector font. Read more...

Microsoft has delayed Outlook REST API deprecation indefinitely due to customer feedback

Usama Jawad — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 01:56:01 +0000

Microsoft has indefinitely delayed the deprecation of the Outlook REST API beta and Outlook REST API v2.0 following feedback from customers and partners. The deprecation was announced in 2020. Read more...

With Basic Auth in Exchange Online dead, this is what Microsoft is deprecating next

Usama Jawad — Thu, 17 Nov 2022 03:18:01 +0000

With Basic Auth in Exchange Online slowly being killed off in favor of Modern Auth (OAuth 2.0), Microsoft has detailed the next protocol it's disabling for Exchange Online customers, starting today. Read more...

Some major changes and limitations are coming to Microsoft 365

Usama Jawad — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 05:30:01 +0000

Microsoft is making some significant changes to Outlook and OneDrive in the coming months. You may need to assess your cloud storage utilization and your email configurations to prepare for them. Read more...

Dedicated Street View app is likely heading to the Google graveyard soon

Usama Jawad — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 14:22:01 +0000

Based on some hidden deprecation messages found in the latest version of the Google Street View app, it seems like the app will be killed off soon. The functionality will live on, though. Read more...

Chrome 107 is landing today with HEVC decoding support, despite pushback from Mozilla

Usama Jawad — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 09:00:01 +0000

Google Chrome is finally adding support for HEVC (H.265) decoding with version 107 today. This is despite Mozilla saying that it plans to add no support for the modern compression format. Read more...

Microsoft is killing off Basic Auth in Exchange Online starting today

Usama Jawad — Sat, 01 Oct 2022 09:00:01 +0000

Microsoft has started deprecating Basic Auth in Exchange Online starting from today, as it has been warning for years. Customers are encouraged to migrate to Modern Auth (OAuth 2.0). Read more...

Chrome 106 is shipping today with a few experimental features and deprecations

Usama Jawad — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 09:00:01 +0000

Google Chrome 106 is landing in the later hours of today. It packs a few new functionalities, experimental capabilities locked behind flags, and also some deprecations for features with low usage. Read more...

Microsoft will disable Basic Auth for Exchange Online next month... but not really

Usama Jawad — Thu, 01 Sep 2022 16:16:49 +0000

Microsoft has once again informed customers that it is deprecating Basic Auth for many Exchange Online protocols starting from next month. However, tenants will be able to bypass it temporarily. Read more...