Features removed or no longer developed starting with Windows Server 2025
Each release of Windows Server adds new features and functionality; we also occasionally remove features and functionality, usually because we've added a better option. Here are the details about the features and functionalities that we removed in Windows Server 2025.
Tip
You can get early access to Windows Server builds by joining the Windows Insider Program for Business. This is a great way to test feature changes.
The list is subject to change and might not include every affected feature or functionality.
Features we've removed in this release
We're removing the following features and functionalities from the installed product image in Windows Server 2025. Applications or code that depend on these features won't function in this release unless you use an alternate method.
| Feature | Explanation |
|---|---|
| IIS 6 Management Console (Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console) | The console has been removed after being no longer developed in Windows Server 2019. You should also start migration from IIS 6.0 or earlier versions, and move to the latest version of IIS, which is always available in the most recent release of Windows Server. |
| Wordpad | WordPad has been removed from Windows Server 2025. We recommend Microsoft Word for rich text documents like .doc and .rtf and Windows Notepad for plain text documents like .txt. |
| SMTP Server | The SMTP Server features has been removed from Windows Server 2025. There's no replacement within the operating systems. Consider using Exchange Server or a non-Microsoft SMTP server as an alternative. To learn more about enabling SMTP connection in Exchange Server, see Receive connectors in Exchange Server. |
| Windows PowerShell 2.0 Engine | The Windows PowerShell 2.0 Engine has been removed, applications, and components should be migrated to PowerShell 5.0+. |
Features we're no longer developing
We're no longer actively developing these features and may remove them from a future update. Some features have been replaced with other features or functionality, while others are now available from different sources.
| Feature | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Computer Browser | The Computer Browser driver and service are deprecated. The browser (browser protocol and service) is a dated and insecure device location protocol. This protocol, service, and driver were first disabled by default in Windows 10 with the removal of the SMB1 service. For more information on Computer Browser, see MS-BRWS Common Internet File System. |
| Failover Clustering Cluster Sets | Failover Clustering Cluster Sets feature is no longer in active feature development and is deprecated. |
| L2TP and PPTP in Routing and Remote Access Services (RRAS) | New RRAS deployments in Windows Server 2025 don't accept VPN connections based on PPTP and L2TP protocols by default but can still be enabled if necessary. SSTP and IKEv2 based VPN connections are still accepted without any change. Existing configurations retain their behavior. For example, if you perform an in-place upgrade of an RRAS deployment that supports PPTP and L2TP connections, these connections remain enabled. PPTP and L2TP will be removed from RRAS on Windows Server in a future release. This change doesn't affect Windows clients operating systems. To learn more about re-enabling L2TP and PPTP based connections, see Configure VPN protocols. Also to learn more about PPTP and L2TP deprecation, see PPTP and L2TP deprecation: A new era of secure connectivity |
| Network Load Balancing (NLB) | Network Load Balancing (NLB) is no longer in active feature development and is deprecated. Consider using a Software Load Balancer (SLB) as an alterative. To learn more about SLB, see What is Software Load Balancer (SLB) for SDN? |
| NTLM | All versions of NTLM, including LANMAN, NTLMv1, and NTLMv2, are no longer under active feature development and are deprecated. Use of NTLM will continue to work in the next release of Windows Server and the next annual release of Windows. Calls to NTLM should be replaced by calls to Negotiate, which will try to authenticate with Kerberos and only fall back to NTLM when necessary. For more information, see The evolution of Windows authentication. |
| Remote Mailslots | Remote Mailslots are deprecated. The Remote Mailslot protocol, which was initially introduced in MS DOS, is a dated and simple IPC method that is both unreliable and insecure. This protocol was first disabled by default in Windows 11 Insider Preview Build . For more information on Remote Mailslots, see About Mailslots and [MS-MAIL]: Remote Mailslot Protocol. |
| TLS 1.0 TLS 1.1 |
TLS versions 1.0 and 1.1 have been deprecated by internet standards and regulatory bodies due to various security concerns. These versions are disabled by default in Windows Server 2025. For more information on TLS deprecation, see TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1 deprecation in Windows. |
| WebDAV Redirector service | The WebDAV Redirector service is deprecated. The service isn't installed by default in Windows Server. For more information on the WebDAV Redirector service, see WebDAV - Win32 apps. |
| Windows Internal Database (WID) | Windows Internal Database (WID) is used by several roles, including ADFS, ADRMS, IPAM, RD Connection Broker, and WSUS. Consider using a free or full version of SQL Server for these roles. WID will be removed from Windows in a future release. To learn more about the different types of SQL Server available, see SQL Server editions. |
| Windows Management Instrumentation Command line (WMIC) | Beginning with Windows Server 2025, WMIC is available as a feature on demand (FoD) which can be added with the DISM /Add-Capability command. It will be removed from Windows in a future release. PowerShell for WMI replaces the WMIC tool. Use PowerShell or programmatically query WMI as a replacement for WMIC. To learn more about WMIC depreciation, see WMI command line (WMIC) utility deprecation: Next steps |
| VBScript | VBScript is available as a feature on demand (FoD) and preinstalled in Windows Server 2025, before its removal from the operating system in a later release. As a replacement for VBScript, use PowerShell for automating tasks, custom actions, or scripts. To learn more about migrating to PowerShell, see The VBScript-to-Windows PowerShell Conversion Guide. If you're using VBScript within your webpage, functionality is currently limited to browsers predating Internet Explorer 11. We recommend migrating your webpages to JavaScript, which provides cross-browser compatibility and modern browser support. |
| Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) | Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) is no longer actively developed, all the existing capabilities and content continue to be available for your deployments. |