Cortana, Skype, More are Being Removed or Deprecated in Windows 11
- Paul Thurrott
- Jun 24, 2021
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123
Today, Microsoft revealed which familiar Windows 10 features are being removed or deprecated in Windows 11.
“When upgrading to Windows 11 from Windows 10 or when installing an update to Windows 11, some features may be deprecated or removed,” Microsoft notes.
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These features include:
- 3D Viewer. Can get from the Store.
- Cortana. Cortana won’t blow out your eardrums during Setup’s first boot experience and it will no longer be pinned to the taskbar.
- Desktop wallpaper roaming. Windows 11 will not roam desktop wallpaper from PC to PC when you sign in with a Microsoft account.
- Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer is disabled in Windows 11 (but not removed?).
- Lock screen Quick Status. Quick Status is begin removed from the lock screen.
- Math Input Panel and Math Recognizer. The Math Input Panel is removed and the Math Recognizer will be installed on demand (and includes the math input control and recognizer).
- News & Interests. Despite just shipping in Windows 10, News & Interests is being replaced by the new Widgets feature in Windows 11.
- OneNote for Windows 10. Can get from the Store.
- Paint 3D. Blessedly dead. Can get from the Store.
- Dead. Can get from the Store.
- S mode. S mode will only be available in Windows 11 Home edition going forward.
- Snipping Tool. The Snipping Tool is available in Windows 10, but it looks and works like Snip & Sketch.
- Start menu. The all-new Windows 11 Start menu no longer supports live tiles, groups, folders, pinned apps, or pinned sites.
- Tablet mode. Windows 11 does not support Tablet mode.
- Taskbar. The Windows 11 taskbar does not offer My People, which was previously deprecated, and it can now only be aligned to the bottom of the screen.
- Timeline. It’s dead, Jim.
- Touch keyboard. The Touch keyboard no longer supports docked and undocked layouts on screen sizes 18 inches and larger.
- Wallet. Also dead.
Conversation 123 comments
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yoshi
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p><strong>Start menu.</strong> The all-new Windows 11 Start menu no longer supports live tiles, groups, folders, pinned apps, or pinned sites.</p><p><br></p><p>And there was much rejoicing.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p>
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bschnatt
Log in to Reply<p>Not by me…</p>
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spiderman2
Log in to Reply<p>and not by me and many others</p>
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skinnyjm
Log in to Reply<p>Me too, not sure why something that looks like it was actually designed this century was disliked by so many.</p>
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jdawgnoonan
Log in to Reply<p>They could have done more with Live Tiles than they did. I found them annoying. It was hard to look at my Start Menu and know which was the calendar and which was the mail app. The photos live tile showed the photo I took of a glass of beer instead of a photo that was actually interesting. There was a lot of untapped potential that they never did anything interesting with. Live Tiles were no smarter 5 years after release than they were on day one. </p>
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SvenJ
Log in to Reply<p> You couldn’t tell the difference between a tile that has an envelope and an account name on it, which you set, and a tile with a date and an appointment on it? Granted they dropped functionality and never did anything with them moving from WP to the desktop, but tiles could actually be useful. I am saddened to see them go, but mostly because I use tablet mode on my Surface Go. I find the tile interface way easier to use via touch. Them deprecating tablet mode, certainly jives with eliminating tiles. The fallout will be MS irrelevance in the tablet space. A tablet is more than a Windows PC with touch and pen support. The OS and apps must at least be aware of the lack of a keyboard and mouse, beyond supplying an on screen keyboard and using the pen to click mouse targets. </p>
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jdawgnoonan
Log in to Reply<p>Thus, I disabled Live Tiles eventually. For me they were useless. </p>
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miamimauler
Log in to Reply<p>Fwiw, I hated the look of the tiles and the first thing I did with a new W10 installation was uninstall every filthy tile from the Start Menu and just use the list of programs/apps on the left.</p><p>The tile UI was vomit inducing and along with a lack of popular apps was the main reason WM failed.</p>
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Greg Green
Log in to Reply<p>I use Classic Shell, results in a useful start menu.</p>
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youwerewarned
Log in to Reply<p>Live Tiles killed Windows Phone. Too strange for the masses–scary thing moving magically.</p><p>Get used to the homogenization of everything…</p>
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boots
Log in to Reply<p>I assume you are referring to Live tiles. </p><p>They took up way too much screen space. A Messaging tile would cover 1 quarter of a phone’s Home-screen and contain some half-message like <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"We are all going out after work, see you at…"</span> and you would need to open the app anyway.</p>
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miamimauler
Log in to Reply<p>MS has the usage numbers. While I respect that you and plenty of others actively use those services the fact is you’re in the minority.</p><p>MS aren’t a charity after all and will pursue what’s best for MS and her shareholders. </p><p><br></p><p>Has the demise of WM not woken you up to the fact that Nadella’s MS is a progressive MS and failed apps/services will be put to the sword.</p>
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boots
Log in to Reply<p>"<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">MS aren’t a charity after all and will pursue what’s best for MS and her shareholders."</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">How does removing the ability to pin shortcuts to </span>folders, apps, and sites affect MS shareholders?</p><p><br></p>
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Greg Green
Log in to Reply<p>They used the same user analysis to justify Windows 8. That was clearly wrong. Or at least they were holding the data wrong.</p>
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wolters
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>I actually used the tiles by grouping similar apps and naming the tile group. As far as I can see in Windows 11, you can PIN things to that minimal start menu…I wonder if you can at least do folders? I am not a fan of shortcuts or filling taskbar of stuff, so I would really like a grouping feature. </p>
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dave.erwin
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>Same here. I disable live tiles and removed almost all of the default pinned apps. But given the number of apps that I need for different projects grouping apps is really handy. To me the start menu is like a secondary task bar. Everyone uses Windows in their own way. No matter what your way might be there is no "right" way. To each their own.</p>
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omen_20
Log in to Reply<p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">What exactly is meant by no longer supporting pinned apps, or pinned sites? The screenshot of the new start menu literally says the word Pinned and then shows apps below it.</span></p>
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dftf
Log in to Reply<p>I’d imagine this means when you right-click an app in the Start Menu in Windows 10 now, then go to "Pin to Start", or in Edge right-now if you go to the "…" menu, then "More tools" then either "Pin to Taskbar" or "Pin to Start"</p>
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veermaharaj
Log in to Reply<p>Not by me, by start menu was always grouped and customized to the gills. Every app, tool and folder I could want to access was pinned there.</p>
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philly30
Log in to Reply<p>People rejoice over the loss of functionality ? Who are these idiots?</p>
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hrlngrv
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>If only they were just idiots.</p><p><br></p><p>Rather they’re the types who want others to use PCs the way they themselves use PCs. The types who relished being hall monitors in grade school.</p>
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locust_infested_orchard_inc.
Log in to Reply<p>Those that rejoice the lack of functionality are those that endorse the notch as a feature, as well as a tetraplegic file management system. For them, both Windows and macOS are considered as overly complex, hence Apple’s eventual shift to iOS on Macs and Macbooks.</p>
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boots
Log in to Reply<p>Where do we put document or folder short cuts? The Desktop? Hello 1995!</p>
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cnc123
Log in to Reply<p>Not really. I’d like to pick the few apps that show up there.</p>
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hrlngrv
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>Live tiles may suck, but it’s possible to fit many more than 18 <strong>medium</strong> pinned tiles on the Windows 10 Start menu, so more than what the Windows 11 Start menu provides.</p><p><br></p><p>It really seems MSFT is on a mission from God to fubar the Windows launcher. I didn’t like the Windows 10 Start menu, but I didn’t loathe it the way I did the Windows 8 Start screen <strong><em>and</em></strong> the Windows 7 Start menu. At least I didn’t have to click a @#$%&*! button before scrolling through the all apps/programs listing. Going forward, I won’t even be able to organize that listing. Thanks ever so much, MSFT!</p>
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yoshi
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>Ooof. I didn’t mean to rile up the entire Sinofsky fan club.</p>
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tekisasujohn
Log in to Reply<p>I didn’t realize they all hung out in one place. Hopefully one day science will provide help for the type of mental illness that liking anything about Windows 8 requires.</p>
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miamimauler
Log in to Reply<p>It’s not your fault @yoshi. The Metro fan club venues are being shut down as phone booth’s are being removed and they have nowhere else to go especially given they can’t stand sunlight. ?</p>
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TheFerrango
Log in to Reply<p>Can confirm, I hate sunlight</p>
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miamimauler
Log in to Reply<p>Lol, tell me don’t have a reflection in a mirror and I’ll be concerned. ?</p>
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boots
Log in to Reply<p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Sinofsky fan club? Really? </span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">You are the one suggesting that removal of Start Menu functions is something to rejoice.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">It sounds like you have a lot in common with him.</span></p>
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locust_infested_orchard_inc.
Log in to Reply<p>No problemo. The software company named <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Stardock shall no doubt continue with their tradition in the enhancement of Windows Start Menu.</span></p>
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philly30
Log in to Reply<p>Yes they will but we should not have to rely on a 3rd party to fixthings because microsoft breaks them. </p>
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ibmthink
Log in to Reply<ul><li>> Dead. Can get from the Store.</li></ul><p>Oof, I hope not. I don’t want to get Dead.</p>
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IanYates82
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>Yeah I saw that omission. Maybe Paul meant for Skype to be there? </p>
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dftf
Log in to Reply<p>Nope, <em>Skype </em>will no-longer be installed by-default in Windows 11 — confirmed here: microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/windows-11-specifications (scroll-down to the "Feature deprecation and removal" heading)</p>
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crunchyfrog
Log in to Reply<p>"<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Cortana won’t blow out your eardrums during Setup’s first boot experience and it will no longer be pinned to the taskbar."</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">This is the best part of all the good bits. It’s like the filet mignon of the experience. Long live Windows 11!</span></p>
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dftf
Log in to Reply<p>While <em>Cortana </em>can be annoying during Windows 10 setup, just click the microphone icon once at the bottom and you’ll hear nothing more</p>
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saint4eva
Log in to Reply<p>Long live Windows 11!!!</p>
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dftf
Log in to Reply<p>I’ve read elsewhere that <strong>Internet Explorer</strong> will be removed (but not the engine, for backwards-compatibility reasons) on the <em>Home </em>SKU</p><p><br></p><p>The <strong>Microsoft News </strong>app is supposed to no-longer ship; the <em>News </em>widget is supposed to offer a "full-screen" mode (it currently doesn’t adhere to your accent-colour in Windows 10 right now, same as the <em>Weather</em> app, so both seem no-longer developed even-now)</p><p><br></p><p>Other apps to keep an eye on for removal: <em>Character Map; Disk Cleanup; Private Character Editor; Problem Steps Recorder</em></p><p><br></p><p>The<em> </em><strong>Taskbar </strong>in Windows 11 is very non-customisable, yes: in addition to what Paul stated, gone are the options for small buttons; not to combine multiple app windows into one button; to add toolbars or folders to it; and to change the right-click PowerShell option to "Command Prompt"</p>
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LT1 Z51
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>Those task bar changes and some of the start menu changes make this a no go for me. Looks like I’m staying on Windows 10 as long as possible.</p>
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omen_20
Log in to Reply<p>If I’m understanding Paul’s post correctly, it sounds like the task bar has to stay on the bottom now? I may dodge Windows 11 until they fix that oversight.</p><p><br></p><p>Bottom placement of the task bar is just dumb for ultra-wides.</p>
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dftf
Log in to Reply<p>It is indeed officially confirmed: go to microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/windows-11-specifications and look under the "Feature deprecation and removal" heading</p>
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MikeCerm
Log in to Reply<p>Is there a better placement for ultra-wide monitors than bottom? Sure, it takes up less space on the left, but it’s also very far away from the right side of the screen where the action center appears if you click the button. I guess you could put it on the right, but it looks insane to me that way.</p>
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omen_20
Log in to Reply<p>Right side is the correct answer for me. I have an ultrawide as my main and then a portrait to the right of it. Task bar sits between both monitors.</p><p><br></p><p>I have used it on the side for years (originally the left). For Ubuntu I ran the app bar on the left with an extension for giving the universal Mac like menu in GNOME 2. Ubuntu later on did that exact UI for Unity and stuck with it in GNOME 3.</p><p><br></p><p>At this point Windows looks weird to me in default form.</p>
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MikeCerm
Log in to Reply<p>I just never really thought of putting on the right because kind of used to seeing Ubuntu’s layout. I guess left just makes a lot more sense to me, coming from a western, left-to-right perspective. However, making the taskbar vertical was always so janky in Windows, for the reasons you mentioned, plus sizing issues — the minimum width is double what is should be when using small icons to fit the clock, but if you use regular icons you can’t fit very many without getting a stupid scrollbar — doesn’t matter if it’s on the left or right, it kind of sucks.</p><p><br></p><p>Personally, when I’m on Ubuntu (or any Gnome distro), I use Dash to Panel to essentially recreate the Windows taskbar look, but I keep it on top, without the global menu. When I’m on Mac, I put the dock on the left to save vertical real estate, but I just hate that Mac forces a full width menu bar and doesn’t let you combine the dock with that. Mac’s global file menu has no business in a multitasking OS. Made perfect sense before floating windows existed, or on a small screen where you can only have one thing open at a time. Today, it seems very antiquated, but maybe it’s not the worst if you only ever work off a single small screen, like a laptop screen, which most Mac users do.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>Right side is the correct answer for me. I have an ultrawide as my main and then a portrait to the right of it. Task bar sits between both monitors.</p><p><br></p><p>I have used it on the side for years (originally the left). For Ubuntu I ran the app bar on the left with an extension for giving the universal Mac like menu in GNOME 2. Ubuntu later on did that exact UI for Unity and stuck with it in GNOME 3.</p><p><br></p><p>At this point Windows looks weird to me in default form.</p>
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omen_20
Log in to Reply<p>Yes the Action Center still launches on the right even when the task bar is on the left. That is a flaw in Windows 10’s shell, not the idea of having it on the right. Just look at how the action center sweeps in over the task bar if you have it on the right, instead of from underneath. Microsoft doesn’t pay close attention to details like that.</p><p><br></p><p>The other issue with having it on the left if you have a second monitor to the right is that notifications follow the system tray. If you place the taskbar on the left and are looking at your right monitor you will miss notification banners. This is originally why I placed it on the right at work.</p><p><br></p><p>Personally I never click the Action Center button just like I don’t click Start. I use Windows+A.</p>
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hrlngrv
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>| <em>but it looks insane to me that way</em></p><p><br></p><p>Should that matter <strong><em>AT ALL</em></strong> to anyone else?</p>
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thewarragulman
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>Yeah, I’m really not happy with the removal of small taskbar buttons and the removal of the "Never combine" taskbar buttons, I use both and have done so since Windows 7 as I didn’t like the change back then and much prefered the way Windows Vista and earlier taskbars worked. I always work with multiple windows of the same program, and it always felt like an extra unnecessary step to click the combined button and then select the window in the thumbnail previews rather than just clicking on a dedicated taskbar button for each window. I’m really hoping they add these back as it’ll basically ruin over 20 years of muscle memory at this point. Also while I never moved the taskbar from the bottom of the screen, I can understand why people would be frustrated over it for the same reasons I’m not happy about the forced combined buttons, it ruins decades of muscle memory.</p><p><br></p><p>I could learn to move on if they don’t as the rest of the changes make this release over the top for me, especially the now 12 month servicing model replacing the WaaS baloney. Windows is finally getting the polish it deserves and is honestly making me as happy as I was for the release of Windows 7.</p>
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navarac
Log in to Reply<p>I hate to admit it, but apart from a very non-customizable Taskbar, and <em>maybe</em> Disk Cleanup, the rest of the list makes a lot of sense.</p>
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dftf
Log in to Reply<p>"Disk Cleanup" has been considered "depreciated" for a while now; even in Windows 10, the aim was always to integrate its functionality into the "Storage" page in the Settings app (when you click on the "Temporary Files" item). All they really need to do is expand the list to cover all current choices, and add a tick-box titled "All but the most-recent System Restore point and Shadow Volume copy" and then its all done</p>
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hrlngrv
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>Wise Disk Cleaner works well in the background. Who needs Disk Cleanup?</p>
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tdemerse
Log in to Reply<p>The new news experience better pull my source and topic preferences from MSN News. Launcher does not and I’m tired of getting wildly different news offerings from Microsoft depending on the platform.</p>
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anoldamigauser
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>The Snipping Tool has one big advantage over Snip & Sketch: you can press <ESC> to pause the snip, then use some functionality, like a menu or pulldown list, and restart the snip using <Ctrl><PrtSc>. The snip will then include the bit of the UI that you were using as well as the position of your pointer. Not SnagIt, but not bad for free.</p>
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dftf
Log in to Reply<p>If you just need to capture a pop-up menu, just use the timer mode: click the arrow after "New" and choose either "Snip in 3 seconds" or "Snip in 10 seconds" and during that time, have what you need on-screen</p>
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veermaharaj
Log in to Reply<p>Or just press print screen.</p>
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Hurmoth
Log in to Reply<p><strong>Timeline.</strong> It’s dead, Jim.</p><p><br></p><p>That’s disappointing. I used this function and it worked really well. Ugh!</p>
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dftf
Log in to Reply<p>The "Recommended" section in the new Start Menu is supposed to offer a bit of the functionallity — though to me it just seems like the old "My Recent Documents" from the Windows XP days: just a series of links to documents you’ve opened or edited recently</p>
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navarac
Log in to Reply<p>To me, Widgets and Recommended is a vehicle for future adverts. Not needed or required in an OS.</p>
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gibber
Log in to Reply<p>Agreed. It can be a lot easier to find a page you visited days earlier when you have thumbnails to look at instead of just a list of favicons and page descriptions.</p>
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dan1986ist
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p><br></p>
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dan1986ist
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>If News and Interests in Windows 10 will be replaced by Widgets, is there a future for the Microsoft News app in Windows 11, or could that also be on the chopping block?</p>
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dftf
Log in to Reply<p>From what I’ve read on other sites, the "Microsoft News" app won’t be installed on new Windows 11 installs (only be retained during Windows 10 upgrades) and the new "News" widget will have some sort-of "full-screen" mode</p><p><br></p><p>If you open both "Microsoft News" and "Weather" right now on Windows 10, you’ll notice unlike most of the "Modern UI" apps neither follow your accent-colour. Both seem rather neglected even now…</p>
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veermaharaj
Log in to Reply<p>The news widget they have is the exact same news and interests they introduced in Windows 10</p>
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vladimir
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>What about skype? It’s not on the list. Is it completely dead?</p>
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dftf
Log in to Reply<p>The <em>Skype </em>app is no-longer preinstalled in Windows 11; Microsoft have confirmed this in their "Feature depreciation and removal" list here: microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/windows-11-specifications#primaryR4</p><p><br></p><p>You can still install it from the Microsoft Store, though I think in the future <em>Skype </em>branding is being terminated and "Teams" will be used for everything instead</p>
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SYNERDATA
Log in to Reply<p>But will it run without an internet connection?</p>
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dftf
Log in to Reply<p>If you’re looking to run Windows 11 Pro or higher, yes, you can still install without an Internet connection and create a local-only account</p><p><br></p><p>Windows 11 Home though requires an Internet connection to complete setup, and you will only be allowed to sign in via a Microsoft Account. So for that version only, Internet is required</p>
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philly30
Log in to Reply<p>This New start menu is garbage, hopefully stardock will have a replacement and for the garbage taskbar</p>
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hrlngrv
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>FWIW, Open Shell works in the leaked 21996.1 build.</p>
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philly30
Log in to Reply<p>That is good to hear, but not sure the ability to not combine taskbar icons can be added to these 3rd party apps</p>
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hrlngrv
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>You may have to wait for Stardock to fix the taskbar.</p>
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philly30
Log in to Reply<p>May no be an option, from Microsoft "You will no longer be able to pin the taskbar to any side of the screen — it can only be aligned to the bottom in Windows 11. Apps also can’t customize areas of the taskbar."</p>
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hrlngrv
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>I’m not a developer, so I don’t know the exact system calls, but I know enough about them to to know there’s a system call which sets the boundary for maximized application windows on a screen. Way back in LiteStep days, the y-boundary would have been 0 (top) to -48 (48 up from bottom edge). Also, a utility named Taskbar Eliminator still works in build 21996.1, and when run it hides the taskbar entirely and sets the desktop boundary so that maximized windows use the entire screen height and width. I figure that means the system call which sets the desktop boundaries still exists and works as it always has. If so, that means it should still be possible to restrict the desktop boundaries so that p-pixels could be reserved on the left or right sides or q-pixels at the top of the screen.</p><p><br></p><p>Then you’d need a 3rd party replacement for taskbar and system tray. There were dozens for LiteStep back in 95-XP days, and BBWin and Emerge Desktop also provided them. I figure that sort of replacement shell could come again.</p>
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Elan Gabriel
Log in to Reply<p>From the screenshots it looks as "Live Tiles" just moved to the widget screen. I can see weather, photos etc. so, it will just be about clicking to show this, than clicking on start to see things at a glance. Not a big deal I think.</p><p><br></p><p>Too bad about the app folders, these were very handy!</p><p><br></p><p>I never moved the taskbar, and never will, but it’s annoying that they removed that feature.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>
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hrlngrv
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>One must either use an MS account to log in or have an MS account associated with the local account used to log in to be able to use the new Widgets applet. That <strong><em>isn’t</em></strong> a requirement for using live tiles with a local account in Windows 10.</p>
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Elan Gabriel
Log in to Reply<p>Don’t you need MS account anyways in order to install and use Live Tiles apps from the store or MS services ? </p>
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hrlngrv
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>Install? Yes, but Bing News and Weather are bundled, and they work in Windows 10 without an MS account.</p>
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navarac
Log in to Reply<p>Watching Security Now this week, I understand that if you ALT+F4 on the ‘Internet’ and ‘MS Account’ screens, it dumps you out to the make local account screen.</p>
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jim.mcintosh
Log in to Reply<p>Sure hope Quick Launch doesn’t end up on that list.</p>
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dftf
Log in to Reply<p>Quick Launch has been removed: Windows 11’s Taskbar no-longer allows folders to be added to it, or other toolbars, like the Address Bar </p>
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navarac
Log in to Reply<p>Copy the folder before upgrading and dump it into the Start Menu. That works. albeit with an extra mouse click.</p>
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drews.tony
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>Typo / Edit: between Paint 3D and S Mode is a bullet without a leading name. I suspect it’s suppose to be "Skype".</p><p><br></p><p>I don’t know why, but I’m unreasonably excited about trying this out.</p>
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innitrichie
Log in to Reply<p>Will Windows Mobile 11 still have Cortana front and centre? And which OEMs have signed on to producing flagship devices that will compete with the almighty Surface Phone?</p>
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dftf
Log in to Reply<p>There won’t be a Windows Mobile 11 (though with your Apple Memoji style profile icon I’m sure you know that and are just trolling)</p><p><br></p><p>Microsoft just want to get their apps preinstalled on as-many Android devices as they can, thesedays, which seems a decent strategy</p>
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locust_infested_orchard_inc.
Log in to Reply<p>No need for a future distinct Windows Mobile OS, as the upcoming Surface Foldable™ shall run full blown 64-bit Windows 11, thereby executing Android apps quicker than any ARM smartphone.</p>
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winner
Log in to Reply<p>Sometimes it’s what you remove rather than what you add. Kudos to Microsoft for trimming a small amount of the lard.</p>
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philly30
Log in to Reply<p>How is stripping the taskbar and start menu of functionality a good thing?</p>
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dftf
Log in to Reply<p>Don’t worry, I’m sure there will still be loads of old 16-colour (4-bit) icons tucked-away in files like "moricons.dll" you can get worked-up over ;)</p>
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Greg Green
Log in to Reply<p>They just haven’t revealed the new lard yet.</p>
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james_makumbi
Log in to Reply<p>I can’t search for all my apps. I have a section for entertainment, coding, reading, gaming and pc settings on my start menu. </p><p>This functionality works. </p><p>Will I have to place shortcuts on the desktop? The taskbar isn’t long enough to contain all my app icons. </p><p>So the start menu and timeline make switching to Windows 11 rather…. Difficult. </p>
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hrlngrv
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>If you use 3rd party software for other things, you have the option of using 3rd party software to replace Windows’s Start menu as well. Don’t expect MSFT to shed any tears over any reduction in your own efficiency due to changes in Windows 11.</p>
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brandonmills
Log in to Reply<p>A big portion of the changes are removing the remnants of Windows 8. Sounds good to me. </p>
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cnc123
Log in to Reply<p>I use a left side-mounted taskbar on a short 1080p laptop screen because there’s no freaking room top to bottom. Any chance this gets added back?</p>
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hrlngrv
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>3DViewer, Paint3D, Cortana, IE, Math Input Panel, OneNote not part of Office: good riddance.</p><p><br></p><p>Lock screen: as long as it can be disabled, who cares what it can/can’t do?</p><p><br></p><p>Widgets: can be unpinned from taskbar and Start menu, so NBD as long as it isn’t running in the background.</p><p><br></p><p>Start Menu: as long as Start10, Open Shell and the like work, NBD. Not even 1-level grouping makes Windows 11’s Start menu <strong><em>more</em></strong> primitive than Chrome OS’s launcher. Seems MSFT wants to <strong><em>force</em></strong> Windows users to use Search.</p><p><br></p><p>Taskbar: only on the bottom of the screen is annoying. FWIW, it seems it no longer supports toolbars a la Quick Start any longer either. For me, that’s beyond annoying as I’ve been using a taskbar toolbar for about 2 decades at this point to access .CHM and .HLP files which I really don’t want to add to the Start menu, <strong><em>especially</em></strong> if I can’t use a folder in the Start menu to group those files.</p><p><br></p><p>The big questions are whether the current registry hacks HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced’s Start_ShowClassicMode and TaskbarSi values will remain available even if there’s no GUI (other than REGEDIT) to change them. That it, if they’ll join HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics’s IconSpacing and IconVerticalSpacing values in the Limbo of remaining around only for use by aficionados of Windows arcana.</p><p><br></p><p>That said, I have some confidence Stardock may be able to unfubar what MSFT has wrought.</p>
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jdawgnoonan
Log in to Reply<p>I won’t miss Cortana. My primary experience with her is that when I talk with my wife or listen to a podcast she wakes up when nothing close to "Hey Cortana" was said. I am not really a voice assistant guy unless I am driving, and Cortana isn’t available in Android Auto or CarPlay. Live tiles? Untapped potential, or a great under-utilized idea that was never moved beyond the original implementation. Maybe had Microsoft pushed the capability more they could have proven that they were useful, but that did not happen. The new Windows looks good and looks modern. I am happy to see it. Unless I need to make deeper configuration I will be able to pretend that at heart Windows isn’t still basically from the 90s (I jest, I like Windows). </p>
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waethorn
Log in to Reply<p>What about the 3D Builder app, the AR headset app, the Microsoft paid WiFi hotspot app, and so on? On a new 21H1 install, there are 4 (!) Xbox apps installed too. For anyone that doesn’t play games, that’s completely stupid and unnecessary.</p>
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hrlngrv
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>Quite possibly the best thing from MSFT <strong><em>this millennium</em></strong> is <strong>winget uninstall . . .</strong><em><span class="ql-cursor"></span></em></p>
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pachi
Log in to Reply<p>Snipping Tool being removed is very unfortunate. The new one is a bloated mess. </p>
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dftf
Log in to Reply<p>How is the new one a "bloated mess"?</p><p><br></p><p>When you first start Snip & Sketch (the new one) you have two options: New and "…" (menu). In the Vista-era one, you have New, Mode, Delay, Cancel, Options, a help bar below that, then a big "Snipping Tool is moving…" message. How is that less-bloat?</p><p><br></p><p>And once you take a snip in both, sure, the newer one has more buttons, but is also offers more features: there is an on-screen ruler or protractor option, and the ability to crop the image, and to zoom in and out.</p><p><br></p><p>Hardly what I’d call bloated, really</p>
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pachi
Log in to Reply<p>That is what I call bloated though :)</p><p><br></p><p>if there exists a super easy way to quickly save something that’s fine but I never figured it out. Apples screenshot thing is even worse but they also offer a super super simple quick method </p>
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dftf
Log in to Reply<p>Well, we have different views: I much-prefer all the new-features in the Snip & Sketch tool</p><p><br></p><p>Oh, and if you want a "super easy way to quickly save [a screenshot]" then just <strong>hold-down the Windows key</strong> on your keyboard <strong>and then press the Print Screen key</strong>. (On some laptops, you might have to also hold-down another key, like "fn"). It’ll take a screenshot of your entire screen and save it into the "Screenshots" folder inside your "Pictures" folder</p><p><br></p><p>No need to open either of the Snipping apps at-all!</p>
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pachi
Log in to Reply<p>The thing is I don’t think adding features needed to make it so complicated and ugly. I know I can take a full screen screenshot. on MacOS I can just hit a button combo and drag a window and it auto saves. Way better than even snipping tool.</p>
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jumpingjackflash5
Log in to Reply<p>It is sad that Microsoft is depreciating Skype. I will keep using it, and when many of my contacts move elsewhere, start searching for some new calling app. The direction where Windows 11 is heading seems to be wrong. </p>
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ghostrider
Log in to Reply<p>MS are taking Windows in the direction they want it to go… it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Other than the distracting eye candy, it certainly looks like they’re dumbing down the OS – taking away yet more power user features and taking more and more control away from the user. It’ not about the UI, or the themes or widgets – that’s all smoke and mirrors – when you can no longer do what you used to on earlier versions, it starts becoming a usability problem. Windows is looking more and more like a phone/tablet type OS.</p>
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soneraxx
Log in to Reply<p>Be ahead of antitrust…</p>
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ruivo
Log in to Reply<p>I am a fan of flat icons and tiles, and I don’t need anyone else to be as enthusiastic about them as I am. But I would love to have the option to keep them on my system. Why moving the UI forward always needs to be a disruptive process? Why not design an interface that allow us to change icon themes, tiles, icons, whatever? Stardock always manages to do it, why not Microsoft?</p><p>I will not hold over to Windows 10 because of looks, but damn, they had more flexible UI with Windows XP…</p>
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hrlngrv
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>XP was the best for those who wanted to change Windows’s look and operation to the greatest extent possible. There were a lot more 3rd party replacement shells back then, some began with Windows 95, others a bit later. It was wonderful to have been able to use LiteStep and BBWin back then. Maybe Windows 11 becoming overly limited in UI customization may lead to a resurgence in 3rd party alternative shells.</p>
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scovious
Log in to Reply<p>I assume this means the weather widget on the taskbar is extremely short lived. That’s a shame.</p>
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bkkcanuck
Log in to Reply<p>TPM 1.2 is the hard floor (minimum requirement), while TPM 2.0 is the recommended minimum… </p><p><br></p><p>TPM 1.2 as far as I can tell was ‘published’ in March 2011 (so I am guessing compliant hardware would have shown up in 2012 at the earliest. </p><p><br></p><p>So this means that Microsoft is starting to ‘obsolete’ hardware (i.e. Windows 10 will be the highest version some hardware can run)??</p>
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dftf
Log in to Reply<p>Microsoft have since updated that page you’re referencing; a 2.0 TPM is now the official minimum. 1.2 isn’t supported.</p><p><br></p><p>Source: windowslatest.com/2021/06/26/microsoft-updates-windows-11-requirements-says-tpm-2-0-is-required/amp/</p>
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JimP
Log in to Reply<p>No tablet mode? Is that a typo? So, what happens if you flip a laptop’s keyboard and screen into a physical tablet?</p>
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wolters
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>In the demo yesterday, when in "tablet mode", it spreads the taskbar icons out a little and windows themselves are a little easier to drag…they said they want the "Same Windows 11" experience on touch. So in a sense, no "tablet mode"…</p>
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philly30
Log in to Reply<p>More like no Desktop mode, they are once again trying to push touch but learned nothing from Windows 8</p>
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JimP
Log in to Reply<p>OK, that might not be bad. I’ll have to watch the demo again.</p>
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me
Log in to Reply<p>Good. Add One drive to the list as well.</p>
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philly30
Log in to Reply<p>Can’t wait to see how they messed up File explorer then all the tech reviews saying how nice and clean it looks</p>
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luthair
Log in to Reply<p>I mean, they already ruined it with the ribbon.</p>
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Patrick3D
Log in to Reply<p>I’ll just buy a Mac.</p>
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dftf
Log in to Reply<p>Seems an expensive way to go — if you’ve an existing device that won’t run <em>Windows 11</em>, why not try running <em>Linux </em>on it instead? You can get some distros that mimic the <em>macOS</em> look, too.</p><p><br></p><p>But if you do intend only on the <em>macOS</em> route, at-least go for one of the "M1" processor models, as support for <em>Intel</em>-based ones will drop sooner, and you’ll end-up stuck on an old <em>macOS</em> version quicker</p>
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zhackwyatt
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>You can’t put the Taskbar on the top of the screen. Wth? First thing I do when I get in front of a computer. </p>
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saint4eva
Log in to Reply<p>You so much love using the word "dead". But long live UWP.</p>
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hrlngrv
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>Nothing like the majesty of UWP fart apps.</p>