What you need to know
- All Microsoft products eventually reach an end-of-service date.
- In this case, a few versions of .NET are on the way out.
- You have until April 26, 2022, to move on from .NET Framework 4.5.2, 4.6, and 4.6.1, or face the consequences of being unsupported.
If you value security fixes, tech support, and all the other perks that come with Microsoft officially backing a product, get ready to hop ship from .NET Framework 4.5.2, 4.6, and 4.6.1. As of April 26, 2022, those iterations are going the way of the dinosaur and will no longer receive the care and attention Microsoft pays to its other products. Should you want to stay properly supported and protected, you'll need to adopt a different version of .NET. The minimum jump you can make to stay in the loop is .NET Framework 4.6.2.
Here's what Microsoft had to say in its announcement about the upcoming shakeup: "Microsoft is making this change because the .NET Framework was previously digitally signed using certificates that use the Secure Hash Algorithm 1 (SHA-1), and we are prioritizing support to newer digital certificates."
This isn't going to affect the existing lifespans of other .NET Frameworks, so rest assured if you're on .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 or another option, you're safe (for now, until Microsoft decides you aren't).
These aren't the only services Microsoft is moving on from. Soon, on June 15, 2022, Microsoft is officially retiring Internet Explorer. It's pumping up IE mode in Edge as a contingency plan, but make no mistake, the flickering flame representing the life of Internet Explorer is down to its last embers, soon to extinguish and leave the world with nothing but Edge, Chrome, and a zillion other options.
