Microsoft proclaims “Deprecation isn't the end -- it’s an opportunity”
Microsoft is no stranger to announcing the deprecation of components of Windows, or even entire apps. But what does it mean exactly? The company has tried to make things a little clearer, but it’s up for debate whether it achieved this or not.
In a post on the Windows IT Pro Blog, Microsoft starts off by defining deprecation by describing what it is not -- “deprecation is not the end point of the lifecycle”. It is also not to be considered “the end” according to Microsoft. Eh?
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So, what does the deprecation of something mean? Microsoft may say that it does not mean “the end”, but it would be more accurate to say that it does not mean “the end... yet”. The aim of the blog post is to help organizations better understand how deprecation affects them and what they need to do when a required tool or feature is due to be deprecated.
As spotted by the Register, Microsoft explains:
Although deprecation is often thought of as “the end,” it's not. 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 products are supported until their retirement or removal date; however, they are no longer in active development and won't evolve. Sometimes years can go by between the deprecation announcement and the actual end of the lifecycle, which gives you time to prepare for change.
And there’s the rub. The problem with Microsoft’s approach to deprecation is that timelines are flexible, ethereal, unknown. When the deprecation of a tool or feature is announced, there is often no way of knowing what the ultimate deadline is -- it could be weeks away, months away, or even years away.
Any clearer? Thought not...
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