1. Deprecation in Windows 7
Guy takes a look and sees what Windows Vista features have been shuffled or removed from Windows 7.
Guy Thomas
Guy Thomas is the writer and editor of Computer Performance, a site dedicated to computer hardware and software maintenance and troubleshooting since 1996. He currently resides in England.
Deprecate is a strange word; the only context I have seen for this term is when a new computer system removes previous features. Also note that the verb deprecate should not be confused with its cousin depreciate, which is what seems to be happening to my house price!
Introduction to Deprecated Features in Windows 7
This week I have selected some of the items in Vista that you won't find in Windows 7. What I find is that deprecating features confuses us old-timers because we keep looking for them! Deprecating utilities or applets also irritates those who can remember Microsoft boasting that you could do everything on a new Windows operating system that you could do on its ancestors. I guess that Microsoft's backwards compatibility promise was broken when XP was launched, and has been conveniently forgotten in Windows 7.
It's probably a sign of my aging, rather than any dramatic change in society, but one of my biggest disappointments is when supermarkets, banks and computer programs change things that don't need changing, especially when the "new" version is worse. Fair play to the RFC (request for comments), their numbers never change, a practice that should be applied to TechNet articles, and extended to setting in stone the URL of webpages.
Vista Features Deprecated in Windows 7
- What many of us hanker after most is choice for our computer settings. In contrast it seems that Microsoft now wants to restrict our ability to customize toolbars in general, and that Vista Quick Launch bar in particular.
- I also wonder why Microsoft removed that lovely 'glowing' effect when the XP network icon was connected. On the positive side, joining a wireless network seems easier in Windows 7 than it was in Vista.
- I am hoping that the latest re-organization of the Control Panel will be the last for some time. For example, the Printers folder is now in Hardware and Sound. Maybe there is a Classic XP style Start Menu, but I cannot find it. One item that I don't miss is the recent items list on the Start Menu, and I have quite taken to the "Jump Lists'".
- Add / Remove Windows Programs has been replaced by "Features", which you Turn on or Turn off. Fair enough, a Windows 7 change that makes sense.
- PowerShell is one of my favorite programs. I confess to a 'senior moment' when I visited a colleagues Windows 7 machine. I could not "Turn on Feature" for PowerShell as you do in Vista. In fact I could not find any way to install it, so in desperation I typed PowerShell in the Search dialog box, much to my embarrassment there was PowerShell, installed by default in Windows 7. Not all new ways are bad.
- Outlook Express is replaced by Windows Mail, which together with Photo Gallery, you can get as an add-on from Windows Live.
- It's probably no big deal that the Ultimate edition of Windows 7 no longer has DreamScene or games like Hold'em. Indeed, for many the killer reason to spend the extra money on Ultimate is the need for BitLocker security. However, for me it was peace of mind that I am not missing something that caused me to pay the premium for Ultimate. For example, some XP users get excited by the prospect of Windows 7 offering XP emulation, only for their hopes dashed because Windows Home Premium does not support XP Mode, for that they need Ultimate.
- I have also been reviewing my Vista registry tweaks and am surprised that some of my old tricks no longer work in Windows 7. N.B. Thanks to Stephen B correcting my mistake, I must no revisit my registry hacks. For example, my party-piece renaming the Computer Icon on the desktop to reflect the username of whoever is logged on, does work.
- In this short review about features deprecated in Windows 7, I admit to suffering from version blindness, by that I mean if you are coming from XP, I forget which features were deprecated in Vista, and which in Windows 7. Most of all, I just wanted to alert you that while Vista and Windows 7 are similar, if you cannot find a feature in 7, it might have been removed. For an extended list of deprecated features see here
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For XP mode you need Windows 7 Professional or higher. Ultimate is not a requirement
I appreciate senior moments, I've had many during my process of learning Windows 7.
I followed your link to other deprecated features. Note that Movie Maker is a Live feature/application available to Windows 7 users. I've never used it but need to, so I'm glad I found it.
You forget that the photo app that came with Vista was deprecated and moved to Live as well. It appears that other features may have been moved to the "cloud" as well.
I had a problem with notifications flashing up from the Notification Area and disappearing before I could respond. I just shut off a bunch of the notifications and that "fixed" the problem. Hopefully they weren't telling me my system is infected or something like that.
The biggest problem is not with deprecation but with renaming a feature or moving them. Your tip about using the search feature to find a feature is useful. I've used it several times.
Overall 7 is WAY BETTER than Vista or XP. Even my wife the Mac user has switched from Snow Leopard to 7. So far so good. Great job Microsoft.
Technically on #7 you can get Professional and do the XP Mode as well.
Here's an article from Wikipedia that lists features removed:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_ [...] _Windows_7
Also found a forum thread about Hold'em on the Windows support site:
http://social.answers.microsoft.co [...] 841d69d95/
I followed the link and the download wasn't there. But I expect that if you had Vista Ultimate that there is a way to make Hold'em work under 7.
Uhm, ok, on the whole this is a nice column (I find it difficult to call it an article), however there are a few "strange" things, such as addressing the article to total beginners (otherwise I cannot explain the very basic list of deprecated features) and then publishing "advertisement" to commercial (and expensive), complex, troubleshooting/admin software. I kinda missing the connection of the "recommendations" in relation to the deprecated features.
There are also quite a few open source alternatives to the software "recommended".
Ok they broke the search tool, that was very nice in Vista and is useless to the point that I use a 3rd party tool. IE 8 is required, are there any sites it doesn't have an issue with, replaced. At best it's slightly better than Vista, really. The virtual PC was faster in Vista and acceptible the one in W7 is all but useless so much for the BS windows mode. VMware is your best bet now.
Also windows 7 lags for no reason at all, that never happened in Vista, and it doesn't on all 3 of the pc I run 7 on. Oh and BSODs are back with 7
Search has sucked for several versions. I just trust luck to find my files. Don't understand what you mean about IE8. IE8 runs MUCH better than with Vista. Not using virtual PC, using a BootCamp partition so running pure Windows on the Intel Mac.
the printers change was done so you had 1 central place to find all your addons like mice keyboard bluetooth and everything of that nature
as to the thing about add remove programs? i have a snapin call programs for that i dont know why you dont.
and you are completely missing the classic mode for your control panel theres a little blue dropdown that gives a tile mode i beleve and that makes it just like a classic control panel
does ne1 actually use outlook express? ok i know they did but come on theres much better free alternatives than live mail... thunderbird comes to mind
You can change the taskbar to the old view by right-clicking it and going into properties and then tell it to either never combine or combine only when taskbar is full, or something along those lines and then check the box to use small icons and there you go.
You can make the control panel less of a pain to navigate by changing the view from category to small/large icons in the pull-down menu on the top right corner in control panel view. Now, for example, printers will be in the "Printers and Devices" section, which is also listed on the start menu, at least on mine. Add/remove programs will be "programs and features" which makes a lot more sense than just "features", that's stupid. it's like they want ppl to be dumber by unlearning what to refer to a software program as and just grouping it in one vague "features" term. I hate when they make changes like that.
anyways, there are other ways to resolve other items on the list, but i cant remember how off hand
it says that for XP mode you need ultimate... not true... while it is not in the home version as stated, you only need profesional
Sorry but Windows 7 is a new low that I just wont go to.
Microsoft are taking more massive backwards steps by continuing to shroud functionality with more and more ambiguous marketing metaphors that assume all PC users are morons.
For example, to me "add/remove programs" is far more accurate, descriptive and intuitive than turning on/off 'features' when you actually want to install/uninstall programs.
I'm moving all my PCs to Linux (Ubuntu) and not looking back.
PS for all those that don't realise that Microsoft are ripping you off for something you can get for free: you don't need to pay for Windows ultimate to run virtual XP. Just download free tools like VirtualBox or VMWare. Apart from being free they're more fully featured and work better/faster than Microsoft's own virtual environment anyway.
you could use vmware/virtualbox but you'd need to buy an extra xp license for that...
Sorry but Windows 7 is a new low that I just wont go to.Microsoft are taking more massive backwards steps by continuing to shroud functionality with more and more ambiguous marketing metaphors that assume all PC users are morons.For example, to me "add/remove programs" is far more accurate, descriptive and intuitive than turning on/off 'features' when you actually want to install/uninstall programs. I'm moving all my PCs to Linux (Ubuntu) and not looking back.PS for all those that don't realise that Microsoft are ripping you off for something you can get for free: you don't need to pay for Windows ultimate to run virtual XP. Just download free tools like VirtualBox or VMWare. Apart from being free they're more fully featured and work better/faster than Microsoft's own virtual environment anyway.
Enjoy your Ubuntu in its new blue versions.
Just a couple of notes, though, since you've gotten quite a bit wrong (well, you've gotten pretty much all wrong. . . LOL)
Add/Remove Programs is now "Programs" and contains all programs, not just those that elected to be listed (as in XP). Not Features.
XP Mode is free with Professional and Ultimate. VirtualBox or VMWare are, themselves, free but they require an external XP license so you're either going to buy one that isn't restricted to a machine type/brand (the way most of the OEM ones were) or you'll just hack one.
As an IT Admin, I've no issues with the functionality of Win7. It's all still there, and typically with fewer clicks.
As to the column - lame. Sorry, not very well written, incoherent, inaccurate.
You must not be a very good IT Admin. It is called "Programs and Features" and Windows features are turned on and off there. All you had to do was open up the Control Panel to see.
I'm going to guess that you couldn't write any better, coherently or accurately. Not sure why everyone is complaining about the writing and not the information. Most of the posters have been wrong about what they've said. From what I can gather Guy's blog is ongoing. While this is my first time here I can't imagine that it is everybody's first time.
As for an XP license, I imagine that most people here have owned a computer for more than a couple of years which means they have an XP license which they upgraded to Vista and now to 7. So you just install the XP you already own. It might be different in the UK, but that's what I've done when I've needed an extra license.
The post was meant to a simple musing on something that struck Guy as interesting. No need to criticize the post. Just don't come back if it is not valuable.
These two articles summarize in the best way what we lost from XP:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_ [...] dows_Vista
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_ [...] _Windows_7
Quite a lot of functionality. I have decided to stay with XP till its end of support 2014 since Vista Ultimate support ends earlier! in 2012 and Windows 7 Ultimate ends in 2015 (just a year later than XP).
Unless you have a very large investment in XP software you are missing out on a significant improvement in performance and ease of use.
That said, I still argue that MacWrite, which fit on a single 400K floppy WITH the Mac OS and room for storage, is more Word Processing software than most people need. Software development focuses on adding features that few people use and even those that use them, use them rarely. The focus is on "What can we do?" not "What is really needed and how can we keep hardware requirements to a minimum?" The same goes for hardware, more, more, more whether 99% of users need it or not.
XP was a good operating system. If you are happy with it, keep using it. But 7 is a vast improvement over XP despite its faults. The dissatisfaction with deprecation speaks more to a dislike of change than to a real loss of features used by majority of users.
Toolbars are my biggest gripe with Win7. I used to be able to drop "My Computer" at the top of my desktop and it automatically created a toolbar at the top that showed everything in "My Computer". Loved this since I had instant access to all my drives and network shares. Now I have to use a 3rd party app to get the same (well somewhat same) functionality.
The quick launch bar IS available on Windows 7, it's just not enabled by default.
Wow, you guys need to get over yourselves. Nobody on here is a computer guru by any means. Why else would you be reading an article on what is no longer there if you already knew?
With that in mind, I've owned XP and Windows 7. I skipped vista, but used it on a friends computer (and hated it). I also beta tested Vista and Windows 7 before they released.
Those of you worried about using XP in Windows 7, keep in mind that it DOES NOT support graphics acceleration. So any program that would benefit does not. For that, you need something like VirtualBox (which is free and runs very well in windows 7) and a real copy of windows XP. Regardless, I've only found one program that didn't work in windows 7 right out of the box, and I'm running the 64-bit version. That's really saying something.
Truthfully, I can care less what they call the folders as long as they have what I'm looking for. And if you're worried about your settings being hard to find, create a "godmode" folder (you don't actually have to call it that either).
The quick launch bar IS available on Windows 7, it's just not enabled by default.
What are you talking about? The entire BAR is a quick-launch bar. Just drag a program to the bar and presto, you can run it from there. Not to mention, programs that are Win7 friendly use the same icon for the opened window (others create a separate icon).