Samuel Boivin/Shutterstock
Microsoft intends to retire almost 70 applications within its product lines during 2026. This process has already commenced, with 15 applications being discontinued as of January 13, 2026, based on Microsoft’s own documentation. Many of these may not be encountered unless you are engaged in the IT sector, overseeing various elements of a Windows-operated environment.
Up to this point, Microsoft has added to its expanding repository of discontinued products software such as Advanced Threat Analytics, which has been on the road to obsolescence since 2020. This product has been replaced by the cloud-centric Azure Advanced Threat Protection. Support is also wrapping up for virtualization software, as Application Virtualization 5.0 and 5.1 will be retired. Numerous smaller tools like these exist, which are primarily utilized by individuals entrenched in IT operations, including SQL Server and Project Server 2016.
For regular users, the significant takeaway is that this serves as the most advisable moment to upgrade your Windows 11 systems. Included in the end-of-support is two iterations of Windows 11, alongside Microsoft’s ultimate push for those yet to transition to the Office successor, Microsoft 365.