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What's going, going and gone from Windows 11

Any major Windows or Office update focuses on the new and changed stuff. Inevitably, there are also items removed or ‘deprecated’ (meaning they won’t be improved and will eventually be removed).

See all the Office-Watch.com coverage of Windows 11

Windows 11 removes or moves quite a few features, some are a little surprising.

Internet Explorer

As widely reported, venerable ‘IE’ won’t be in Win11.  There is an ‘IE mode’ in the Edge browser.

Timeline

This wasn’t expected.  Timeline is a relatively new part of Windows 10 that’s being dumped from Windows 11.  The existing Timeline button now reveals virtual desktops directly.

Cortana

The one-time rival to Alexa, Google Home or Siri won’t be speaking from Windows 11 by default.  Cortana won’t be visible in a standard installation. 

Live Tiles

Are gone from the Start Menu.  A memorial for Live Tiles will be held in a Seattle phone box. Overcrowding isn’t expected to be a problem.

Groups on Start Menu

Named groups/folders are dropped from Win11 Start Menu – damn.  Presumably Microsoft did this because grouping was useful for more experienced customers and goes against the corporate policy of dumbing down the interface.

Desktop wallpaper roaming

With an MS account, your desktop image could appear wherever you login to Windows 10, but not in Windows 11.

3D apps

Remember when Microsoft promised that ‘3D’ was going to be the next big thing?

Paint3D and 3D Viewer won’t be installed with Windows 11, but will be available from the Microsoft Store.

Snip & Sketch renamed

It’s rebadged as ‘Snipping Tool’ which will cause confusion because that was the name for an older and similar Windows tool. 

See all the Office-Watch.com coverage of Windows 11

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