A List of Vista Features Deprecated in Windows 7 
Deprecate is a strange word; the only context I have seen for this term is when a new computer system removes previous features.
Introduction to Deprecated Features in Windows 7
On this page I have selected some of the items in Vista that you won’t find in Windows 7. What I find is that when Microsoft deprecate a feature it 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.
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 customise toolbars in general, and that Vista Quick Launch bar in particular. See more about restoring the old Quick Launch
- 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.
- There is no Network link or button on the Start Menu, however, it does appear in the Windows Explorer which is just as useful. Talking of networks, there is no Connect To button, instead you go click the icon in the Navigation Area and select: Open the Network and Sharing Center.
- I am hoping that the latest re-organization of the Control Panel will be the last for sometime. 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- Add / Remove Windows Programs has been replaced by ‘Features’, which you Turn on or Turn off.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 favourite 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.
- See Windows 8 features deprecated.
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More Deprecated Features
- Outlook Express is replaced by Windows Mail, which together with Photo Gallery and Windows Movie Maker, 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.
- While Internet Explorer has not been removed, if you prefer Firefox go to the Control Panel, Programs and ‘Turn Windows feature off’, uncheck Internet Explorer 8. Naturally, you have to install Firefox or Chrome manually.
- 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 form 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 it maybe because it has been removed. For an extended list of deprecated features see here
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Summary of Features Deprecated in Windows 7
On this page I have listed feature in Vista that you won’t find in Windows 7. What I find is that when Microsoft deprecate a feature it 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.
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