Microsoft will soon release a new version of its server-focused operating system. Windows Server 2025 is currently available for testing in the Insider program, where users and IT admins can try out the latest changes, features, and fixes. Like every other major OS update, Windows Server 2025 not only adds new stuff (there is even a pair of nice new wallpapers) but also removes outdated components and deprecates specific features. Most of them mirror what Microsoft has already removed or deprecated in the client version of Windows 11.
Here is what Microsoft removed from Windows Server 2025:
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| 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 have been removed from Windows Server 2025. There's no replacement within the operating systems. |
| Windows PowerShell 2.0 Engine | The Windows PowerShell 2.0 Engine has been removed. Applications and components should be migrated to PowerShell 5.0+. |
Here are the features Microsoft is no longer developing. They are still present in the operating system but do not expect new features or further developments. Microsoft will remove deprecated features from Windows Server at some point in the future (you can click each feature to learn more about its capabilities and deprecation):
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| 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. | |
| NTLM | All versions of NTLM, including LANMAN, NTLMv1, and NTLMv2, are no longer under active feature development and are deprecated. The 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. |
| 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. |
| TLS 1.0 TLS 1.1 |
Internet standards and regulatory bodies have deprecated TLS versions 1.0 and 1.1 due to various security concerns. As of the 2024 release of Windows Server Insiders Preview, these versions are disabled by default. |
| Windows Management Instrumentation Command Line (WMIC) | WMIC is disabled by default for new Windows Server installations. It will be removed from Windows in a future release. PowerShell for WMI replaces the WMIC tool. Use PowerShell or programmatically query WMI to replace WMIC. |
| VBScript | VBScript is deprecated. In future Windows releases, VBScript will be available as a feature on-demand before its removal from the operating system. |
| WebDAV Redirector service | The WebDAV Redirector service is deprecated. The service isn't installed by default on the Windows Server. |
More info about Windows Server 2025 and its features is available in the official documentation.
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