Around late 2019 to early 2020, AnyDesk began aggressively pushing version 6 and above. The key changes that made users hesitate to upgrade included:
To decide whether to track down version 5.4.2 or upgrade, examine this comparison: anydesk 5.4.2
| Feature | AnyDesk 5.4.2 | AnyDesk 8+ | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Installer Size | ~4.5 MB | ~7 MB+ | | OS Support | Windows 7, 8.1, 10; macOS 10.12–10.15 | Windows 10, 11, Server 2019+ | | Session Recording | Manual (external tools only) | Built-in | | Two-Factor Auth (2FA) | No (only master password) | Yes | | Address Book | Basic, local-only | Cloud-synced, team management | | Resource Usage (RAM) | ~25-40 MB | ~80-120 MB | | Remote Printing | Yes (standard) | Yes (with advanced filtering) | | Price (per user/month) | Historical (one-time purchase available) | Subscription-only ($12+) | Around late 2019 to early 2020, AnyDesk began
Verdict: Use 5.4.2 if you need speed on old hardware or operate offline. Upgrade to the latest if you need 2FA, granular user permissions, or modern OS features like Dark Mode. Windows XP and Windows Vista are dead to modern AnyDesk
Windows XP and Windows Vista are dead to modern AnyDesk. Version 5.4.2 was one of the last builds to fully support Windows XP SP3 and Windows Server 2003. Industrial machines, medical equipment, and POS systems often run these old OSes. Updating the remote software would break the machine; thus, 5.4.2 is the lifeline.