Word for software which has been killed or is no longer supported

Solution 1:

It depends on your precise meaning, and the intended audience.

It could mean ending:

• Feature updates

• Non-security bug fixes

• Security fixes

• Customer support / troubleshooting

• Service, in the case of SaaS (software as a service)

Sometimes there will be different dates for ending each of these.

For a general-use single-word verb to mirror released, I suggest discontinued. That is, releases, support, etc. (whatever it is that you mean) are no longer continuing.

But I would prefer end of life, which though not a single word (unless you count end-of-life or EOL) is a common industry term, and usually denotes an end to updates or fixes. This is, for example, what the operating system Ubuntu uses: "Release date" and "End of life date".

Some other possibilities:

• abandoned - implies the ending was unplanned

• deactivated / defunct - accurate if the software is actually no longer functioning

• decommissioned / retired - might work, though I would use this for when something actually stops being used, as when a particular company, user, or specific system is no longer using it

• deprecated - describes software as replaced, or not officially recommended. This precedes its complete removal. This term is not widely used outside of software libraries (and software developers).

• obsolete - not great, as it describes the need or use for the software, not the state of development or support; software can become practically obsolete long before any planned support date

• sunsetted - a sunset is actually a period of time of limited support, so it doesn't fit a single date as you have requested. This term is frequently used, e.g. Google Reader

• terminated - good, though if you didn't like killed, this might also be too strong

• unsupported - good, though not all software is ever "supported" in the way some may think: regular bug fixes, support staff, etc.

Solution 2:

Deprecated is often used to describe lower-level APIs/function/libraries that should not be used going forward. See wikipedia on software deprecation.

Solution 3:

Use end-of-life; that's standard in the industry, in my experience.

Solution 4:

I've heard sunset as a more positive sounding alternative to the common end-of-life. Both are pretty common in software engineering terms.

Solution 5:

Different people use different things here, so which term below would work best in your specific situation is going to vary depending on your intended use of it.

• decommissioned
• uninstalled
• discontinued
• deactivated
• shut down / shut off
• deleted
• retired
• retired from service
• became unsupported
• passed its contractual end-of-life cut-off date