Years go by and we continue to see customers still relying on the IIS 6.0 SMTP virtual server feature, which has been out of support for a looong time. To give you an idea just how old this component...
Updated May 19, 2026
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Nino_Bilic
Microsoft
MicrosoftLicensing is something that should be considered, indeed. Many organizations do not have issues with this (because of how they license our stuff) but there are those where this is a consideration. In any case, organizations should choose the direction that is right for them, whether it is what this article describes or is something entirely different.
What folks should definitely avoid is relying on something that is as out of date as IIS SMTP virtual server is...
No disagreement from me on stopping reliance on IIS SMTP.
I think the main problem has been that it was an installable option up until Windows Server 2022, if memory serves, so most people took it as being a supported option even when it wasn't.