You're going to do what to the feature? Microsoft defines what it means by 'deprecation'
(2025/01/31)
- Reference: 1738341012
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/01/31/microsoft_defines_what_it_means/
- Source link:
Microsoft has explained what it means by "deprecation" – it doesn't mean "the end", it means "save the date."
Perhaps with an eye to the impending end of support for most versions of Windows 10, Microsoft this week clarified the difference between deprecation – the end of active development – and the end of support, which is the point at which Microsoft nails shut the lid on a product's coffin.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the earliest known use of the noun was in the mid-1500s, which is when large chunks of the legacy Windows code were probably written. Or does it just feel like that sometimes?
[1]
The OED [2]defines the word as "Entreaty or earnest desire that something may be averted or removed."
[3]
[4]
[5]According to Microsoft:
A deprecation announcement is an advance notice or a 'save the date' courtesy to signal that the product will be retired or removed in the future.
Deprecated features in Windows 11 include the irritating Suggested Actions feature, designed to provide a helpful list of shortcuts when copying information, such as creating a calendar event when copying a date. The deprecation announcement for the feature came in 2024, although Microsoft did not set a date for actual removal.
Microsoft told us it was [6]deprecating the veteran NTLM protocols in June 2024, and Microsoft began actually removing the technology from Windows later that year.
This all leads us to the thorny issue of Windows 10. Has it been deprecated ? While the AI overview provided by Google says, "Yes, Windows 10 is considered deprecated, meaning Microsoft has ended major development and support for it," we'd contend that the correct answer is no. Support will end for most versions on October 14, 2025, and development continues, as [7]evidenced by the Windows Insider program.
[8]Microsoft preps for a year of enterprise-impacting M365 retirements
[9]Microsoft breaks timezones in Settings and calls on an unlikely ally for help
[10]Windows 11 users still living in the past face forced update, like it or not
[11]Users rage as Microsoft announces retirement of Office 365 connectors within Teams
Heaven forbid that AI overviews might occasionally be wrong.
For Microsoft, a deprecation announcement is a planning thing. It is a way of saying that a service is going away at some point, and admins should stop onboarding new users.
[12]
As for Windows 10, however, the end of support is still looming. While the operating system is not deprecated, Microsoft has clearly stated the end-of-life date.
The company is fervently hoping that users are listening. ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Z50Bte8-7pcEO11KTVV2RAAAAJE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?scope=Entries&q=deprecation
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z50Bte8-7pcEO11KTVV2RAAAAJE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
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[5] https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/windows-itpro-blog/deprecation-what-it-means-in-the-windows-lifecycle/4372457
[6] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/whats-new/removed-features
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/15/microsot_windows_10_insider/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/09/microsoft_enterprise_impacting_retirements/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/19/microsoft_breaks_timezones_in_settings/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/11/microsoft_23h2_forced_update/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/09/users_rage_as_microsoft_announces/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z50Bte8-7pcEO11KTVV2RAAAAJE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Perhaps with an eye to the impending end of support for most versions of Windows 10, Microsoft this week clarified the difference between deprecation – the end of active development – and the end of support, which is the point at which Microsoft nails shut the lid on a product's coffin.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the earliest known use of the noun was in the mid-1500s, which is when large chunks of the legacy Windows code were probably written. Or does it just feel like that sometimes?
[1]
The OED [2]defines the word as "Entreaty or earnest desire that something may be averted or removed."
[3]
[4]
[5]According to Microsoft:
A deprecation announcement is an advance notice or a 'save the date' courtesy to signal that the product will be retired or removed in the future.
Deprecated features in Windows 11 include the irritating Suggested Actions feature, designed to provide a helpful list of shortcuts when copying information, such as creating a calendar event when copying a date. The deprecation announcement for the feature came in 2024, although Microsoft did not set a date for actual removal.
Microsoft told us it was [6]deprecating the veteran NTLM protocols in June 2024, and Microsoft began actually removing the technology from Windows later that year.
This all leads us to the thorny issue of Windows 10. Has it been deprecated ? While the AI overview provided by Google says, "Yes, Windows 10 is considered deprecated, meaning Microsoft has ended major development and support for it," we'd contend that the correct answer is no. Support will end for most versions on October 14, 2025, and development continues, as [7]evidenced by the Windows Insider program.
[8]Microsoft preps for a year of enterprise-impacting M365 retirements
[9]Microsoft breaks timezones in Settings and calls on an unlikely ally for help
[10]Windows 11 users still living in the past face forced update, like it or not
[11]Users rage as Microsoft announces retirement of Office 365 connectors within Teams
Heaven forbid that AI overviews might occasionally be wrong.
For Microsoft, a deprecation announcement is a planning thing. It is a way of saying that a service is going away at some point, and admins should stop onboarding new users.
[12]
As for Windows 10, however, the end of support is still looming. While the operating system is not deprecated, Microsoft has clearly stated the end-of-life date.
The company is fervently hoping that users are listening. ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Z50Bte8-7pcEO11KTVV2RAAAAJE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?scope=Entries&q=deprecation
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z50Bte8-7pcEO11KTVV2RAAAAJE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Z50Bte8-7pcEO11KTVV2RAAAAJE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/windows-itpro-blog/deprecation-what-it-means-in-the-windows-lifecycle/4372457
[6] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/whats-new/removed-features
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/15/microsot_windows_10_insider/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/09/microsoft_enterprise_impacting_retirements/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/19/microsoft_breaks_timezones_in_settings/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/11/microsoft_23h2_forced_update/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/09/users_rage_as_microsoft_announces/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z50Bte8-7pcEO11KTVV2RAAAAJE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
upsidedowncreature
There's a joke about executing in there somewhere, damned if I can find it though.
kmorwath
Well, there are people who believe Unix was written by Moses under the guide of god on stone tables, and thereby cannot be changed.... but probably Shakespeare would have written Windows better.
I don't mind what they mean by it...
upsidedowncreature
I just wish people would stop saying "depreciated" when they mean "deprecated".
Doctor Syntax
"The company is fervently hoping that users are listening."
Are they?
I'm sure somebody there has been working out how much money they can make by selling extended support o an ongoing basis to those who won't buy a "perpetual" licence for W11 as part of a hardware replacement.
I'm also sure that there must be plenty of customers who have been working out how much they can save by subscribing to extended support instead of replacing H/W.
And someone else at Microsoft noting how easy it is to get customers to slip into thinking of the whole of Windows a subscription service rather than a perpetual licence and that by doing so they free themselves of dependence on H/W refresh cycles.
"in the mid-1500s, which is when large chunks of the legacy Windows code were probably written."
Hence the oldest known Microsoft OS, TuDos. Version VIII got a bit gross and overweight.