Despite these capabilities, SPD 2010 had limitations and eventual obsolescence. It was tightly coupled to the SharePoint 2010 model and relied heavily on server-side constructs that evolved in later SharePoint versions and the broader move toward client-side development. Microsoft gradually shifted focus to other tooling and paradigms—such as SharePoint Designer’s replacement functionalities in SharePoint Online, the SharePoint Framework (SPFx) for modern client-side customizations, Power Automate for cloud workflows, and modern site theming tools. As a result, SPD’s role diminished; Microsoft stopped developing it further, and modern SharePoint administrators and developers typically use newer approaches better suited to cloud-hosted, client-centric environments.

If your portable version won't start due to "side-by-side configuration is incorrect", you need to extract the manifest file: Run the portable with the /extract parameter (if the repacker included it), or use to pull the embedded manifest and register the dependent WinSxS assemblies manually.

. While Microsoft has officially discontinued the product and ended its extended support in April 2021

If you need "workflows" (what SPD 2010 was great at), Microsoft Power Automate has replaced SharePoint 2010 workflows entirely.

SPD 2013 is more stable on modern OS and can still edit 2010 workflows (to a degree). A 64-bit portable version of SPD 2013 is easier to find and less likely to crash.