Microsoft is preparing for the future, which has involved the evolution of Microsoft Paint, the creation of Microsoft Copilot, and the renovation of Skype, among many other things. However, with so many new developments, it was expected that some things would start to be phased out. Microsoft has begun a process of letting go, starting with Visual Studio for Mac and later with a significant portion of Exchange Online. However, there is still time to prepare.
This move is not aimed at retiring a service but rather redirecting Exchange Online users to Microsoft Graph. This could have been suspected since 2018 when Microsoft announced that Exchange Web Services (EWS) would no longer receive updates. Five years after that announcement, they have now revealed that the functionality will soon disappear.
Microsoft will continue to provide security updates until the end
Despite no longer updating this service, Microsoft is committed to providing security coverage until the last moment, recognizing the value this can have for users who may be hesitant to switch systems, perhaps aware that this service could tip the scales towards Microsoft Graph. With this in mind and while ensuring security support, Microsoft has already recommended starting the migration process in order to maintain access to the data that users may have in Exchange Online.
However, Microsoft is aware that EWS has functionalities that Graph currently lacks, such as access to email files, file information, and many others that the tech giant is working to incorporate into its new application as soon as possible. In fact, one of EWS’s functionalities, access to public files, is currently being evaluated by the team to be included in the Microsoft Graph application, although they have already admitted that not all functions can be transferred from one application to another.
