Classic mode support timeline

[Martijn Eikelenboom]

I love the new SharePoint experiences with the new document library and the new list. It needs some work, but I can see the advantages.

However, a lot of companies have customized the classic experience and tailord it to their needs. A lot of the customizations are unspported in the new model, at least for now and some will stay unspported. And it's not that we knew we were doing unsupported customizations, as some of these were advised through PnP.

Which brings me to the question. What's the support timeline for classic mode? There have been several comments in the different networks, some by Microsoft people, that it's supported well into 2017. 

The new framework will most likely be released during Ignite in preview, with a final release at the end of this year. If you combine these two, the conclusion is, you have less than a year to fix all your unsupported customizations.  Which kind of scares me, and my customers. And we can't even really prepare today as a lot of the details are not know yet. Like the provisioning aspect.

And with that, InfoPath is supported till 2026 if you run onpremises. For Office365 this is 'until further notice'. I'm guessing that InfoPath will not work with these new experiences and thus will lose support when classic mode is not supported anymore. There has been a rumor that for Office365 support will stop a year after SharePoint 2016 is released.

Am I the only one that worries about Microsofts intentions to support classic mode and the lack of a timeline and communication from Microsoft?

[#2]

Classic mode will be supported as long as there are customers using it. A recent post at Office Dev Center says that it's not going away for the "forseeable future", http://dev.office.com/blogs/update-on-modern-document-libraries-and-extensiblity. This statement should ease your mind:

"We will continue to support both of these mitigations until the modern library experience supports the same level of customization as the classic one and partners have had ample time to adapt their solutions to the new experience."

[#3]

@Wictor Wilen thanks for the quote. There are just so many mixed communications, even from official Microsoft sources, that I would like to have a quote with a date where we can count on. And not 'ample time'.

They do give these timelines on most things onpremises (e.g. InfoPath) and even for a product like Dynamics CRM online you know what to expect and for how long you can postpone updates.

Now it's just guessing and hoping that Microsoft doesn't pull support too soon. You really get the feel from many comments that they want to stop support as soon as possible.

Just a few official comments on blogs.office.com and by Chris McNulty.

From: https://blogs.office.com/2016/06/07/modern-document-libraries-in-sharepoint/

Q. How long will classic mode be supported?

A. We recognize the need to test and prepare for any disruption to user experiences such as document libraries. We expect to run the two modes in parallel into 2017.

From: https://network.office.com/t5/Blogs/Modern-SharePoint-lists-are-here-Including-integration-with
"Further customization options are dependent on the release of the SharePoint Framework by year end.  In the interim, classic mode remains fully supported."

From: https://support.office.com/en-ie/article/Differences-between-the-new-document-library-experience-and...

"Note that we have no plans to remove classic mode."

And a non official quote from Marc Anderson (MVP) on the Yammer network:

"One of the things that scare people the most is that you're going to turn of "classic" fast and without warning. There hasn't bee good communication about this, and the fact that someone in an official post I can't find said something like "we'd like to turn off classic as quickly as possible" make people very wary."

[#4 · Accepted solution]

There are no plans to remove classic mode anytime soon.  For more details, see our post on modern extensibility at http://dev.office.com/blogs/update-on-modern-document-libraries-and-extensiblity   Until we roll out the framework and related patterns and practices, we havent earned the right to even talk about it.  But since you asked, any change to support would be communicated long in advance.

[#5]

What is Microsoft guideline for code sharing between classic and modern sites ?

[#6]

Thanks Wictor on the assurance of classic mode will supported indefinitely! Since we are now End of 2018, I hope the statement still stands!

[#7]

Hi Thauja,

Classic mode will be supported as log as customer have them. I do not see any plans from MS  to remove .  Please have a look this  article at http://dev.office.com/blogs/update-on-modern-document-libraries-and-extensiblity  

Please let me know if that works

Thanks,

Thuyavan

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[#8]

Sure. Question was based on this article really. Since it was 2016 wondering an update on timeline.

Looks like no update on plans for end-of-support

[#9]

I know the original post was made in 2016, but doesn't it just show how wrong it is to make a statement like this without the full facts.

You can still use the classic sites in SPO and O365 for the 2019 version and there is no real timeline for when and if they will be depreciated or even removed completely.

Infopath has been depreciated as of writing.

[#10]

They are removing the tenant-level classic mode on March 29th - Its downhill from here.

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-SharePoint-Blog/Delivering-SharePoint-modern-experi...

[#11]

Hi @Chris McNulty 

This post dates from 2016 but it is the most relevant when searching for "SharePoint Online Classic End of Life". Has anything changed or, is there more clarity of the path moving forward as we are entering 2020?

I understand we should be working into moving to the modern experience but some things are still not there yet, and for some cases there is no path to get away from Classic, yet.

Thank you,

Ignacio

[#12]

Hi @Chris McNulty, just to keep this alive.

This post dates from 2016 but it is the most relevant when searching for "SharePoint Online Classic End of Life". Has anything changed or, is there more clarity of the path moving forward as we are entering 2020?

I understand we should be working into moving to the modern experience but some things are still not there yet, and for some cases there is no path to get away from Classic, yet.

Thank you,

Ignacio

[#13]

Now that we are in 2020, would like to know if things have changed. Is there a timeline for supporting classic mode. 

[#14]

Since there isn't feature parity between Classic/Modern is there any reason why you would think Classic mode must be deprecated? Would like to know if you have seen a statement from Microsoft regarding deprecation.

[#15]

@James Bomanwe still use classic mode for few sites and I am just wondering if it is okay to continue or it would later be a redo work. I was reading this article - https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-sharepoint-blog/what-is-modern-sharepoint-and-why-s... 

, refer to the section #10  "Future investment". 

[#16]

@James Boman it's exactly because of that that we are asking what's the path moving forward. The push for Modern is huge and in my world, MS has a rep for phasing stuff out. The idea is to be able to plan and future proof, to see where the efforts and investments should be headed.

There are 2 of these profiles so just in case, @Chris McNulty @Chris McNulty 

[#17]

Good to ask for clarification - In my world, Project Online still makes extensive use of Classic Webpart Pages, and subwebs based on Classic templates. As far as I know we should be okay until at least 2026.

[#18]

@James Boman On regards to PWA that's one great example.

Have you noticed how they haven't enabled the setting toggle for Project Online permissions mode on the Modern SharePoint Admin panel? I was actually playing with this earlier on the week. I had to go to classic admin panel and refresh it at least 7 times to get the selection and toggle working (Tried from 3 different browsers and incognito sessions in case it was outdated cache files, the setting was simply not popping out and had to tab my way there).

[#19]

@Martijn Eikelenboom Look at what is happening with Sharepoint 2010 workflows in Office365. We are having to aks the question, can this platform really be trusted to give enough time to prepare (4 months for SP2010 workflows is not enough)

[#20]

Yeah - I noticed that, 1st November is very aggressive timeline for a feature that has been in use for such a long time - and with no real migration options in a lot of cases. (E.g. workflows inside site templates )
Conspiracy theory is this timeline is because the grandfathering of the premium http connector ends in November and they don't want people migrating flows to 2010 workflows. 🤔